Cleveland Police respond to high-profile incidents; current focus includes investigations into fatal A66 crash linked to organised crime and responses to recent reforms.
Two Cleveland Police officers and five people in a Volkswagen Passat have been pronounced dead after the Passat drove the wrong way on the A66 and struck a marked armed response vehicle at about 03:39 BST on Saturday. The Independent Office for Police Conduct has opened an investigation and police are contacting families of the victims.
Two cars were driven dangerously on Teesside, with cloned number plates. A Volkswagen Passat collided head-on with a police car, killing five occupants and two officers. Nine men and three women have been arrested in a widening operation linked to suspected organised crime activity.
Isabelle Welsh suffered weeks of abuse, including 21 broken bones, before she collapsed at her Thornaby home in September. Her mother Alexandra Walker and her boyfriend Harrison Simpson have been jailed for murder and child cruelty, with Simpson also convicted of sexually abusing the child. Police say an outstanding arrest warrant for Simpson was not acted on promptly, prompting a review and changes in warrant tracking and governance.