Watch: Special anti-shoplifting police operation in Shrewsbury ends with man in cuffs

That's how one officer on Operation Darwin this week described the policing response to shop thefts and antisocial behaviour in the town.

Operation Darwin and its cousin, Operation Forefront, were tied together for a morning of action against shoplifting and anti-social behaviour on Wednesday. It involved two plain clothes officers, and six or so members of the town's Safer Neighbourhood Teams, led by Sgt Phil Parke.

Sgt Parke's operational briefing involved intelligence on individuals they call "nominals", with pictures and notes of key individuals and their characteristics. The information might include if they are violent, what has brought them into conflict with the law, and interestingly, whether they have mental health problems.

Most of the characters are well known to the officers and all of them live within a couple of miles of the town centre, and commit a large amount of the shop theft crime.

The Shropshire Star joined PCs Taylor and Owen in the police van, which contains two mini cells with enough space for one person to sit, and windows and bars.

Following the briefing at Monkmoor Police Station at 9am, we parked ourselves at the foot of Wyle Cop, opposite the NCP car park, and waited for intelligence to come in that the van was needed.

Sgt Parke was based at the CCTV control centre at Shrewsbury Fire Station, in St Michael's Street, where cameras feed back information. Information also comes in from shops and the town rangers who are often seen in the town centre.

And we waited. And waited.