Drugs taken off streets by police dog

Drugs including cocaine and cannabis were taken off the streets after police sniffer dog was bought in to patrol a busy town centre.

PD Oakley, a passive search dog trained to operate in the night-time economy, was on patrol with his handler in Mansfield on Saturday night.

Working as part of a wider team during a regular deployment, the highly-trained Labrador was instrumental in identifying two people in possession of cocaine.

He also helped to identify four people in possession of cannabis and one in possession of Mamba, a type of synthetic cannabis.

The drugs were seized and offenders were dealt with in various ways, including conditional police cautions and community resolutions.

Six people we also instructed to leave the town centre for behaving in an antisocial way, another person was dealt with for riding an e-scooter illegally.

Sergeant Alice Bartle, of the Mansfield town centre policing team, said: “We regularly make use of our passive drugs dogs to clamp down on drug use in the town centre.

“These animals are trained to operate calmly in often noisy environments and are an invaluable tool for the rest of us.

“Sometimes they detect substances directly, but it is often the case that people see the dog and begin to act in suspicious ways, giving us a reason to stop and search them.

“Either way they are a great asset and a valuable part of the wider police team.”