UK police used a genius, Simpsons-inspired trick to catch criminals and it actually worked

Fans of The Simpsons will know this. Brilliant.

Given the fact that The Simpsons has been on TV for 29 seasons, we're getting very accustomed to stories that state "The Simpsons predicted..." In recent months, we've seen the beloved show predict Disney's takeover of Fox, Trump's presidency, and Lady Gaga's half-time performance at the Superbowl but life has now imitated art. On that note, very few people would have predicted that the Springfield Police Department would actually predict and conduct a competent sting operation that has now happened in real life - in fact, it happened in Yorkshire. Yes, the actual Springfield Police Department has done some good. The same group of police officers that didn't know it's illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purpose of gambling. As reported by the Yorkshire Post, the South Yorkshire Police has fooled 21 people into being arrested. Operation Holly involved the police sending cards from a fake company to the addresses of some of their most wanted felons on the promise of receiving a free Christmas hamper. These felons were known to the local officers for a litany of crimes such as burglary, assault, fraud, drink-driving, dangerous driving, drug-related offences, driving bans etc. On these cards, the felons were promised "Herald Hampers" that included champagne, wine, Christmas pudding and other treats. To get these free hampers, the criminals had to arrange a delivery time for them to be dropped off at their home. 21 people fell for it and were apprehended. Lee Berry, Temporary Detective Chief Inspector, has praised the effectiveness of Operation Holly. He said: "It’s encouraging that our innovative approach has yielded positive results and we will continue to explore new avenues for apprehending those wanted, which impacts upon the victims of crime. Sending officers to addresses where wanted people no longer reside is also a drain on valuable police resources." If this plan sounds familiar, it's because of Chief Wiggum and company actually did something very similar during the episode Lisa the Sceptic. Do you remember when Springfield's finest officers organised the "police raffle" and offered a free motorboat as the main prize? If the Yorkshire Police were copying The Simpsons, we can only say bravo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flAkPEeUhHY Clip via Gusty Wilkins