Officers lead targeted crackdown on drug crime in Bestwood

Bestwood officers have vowed to continue their mission to drive drug crime out of the area.

That’s after the neighbourhood policing team carried out a new operation designed to keep drugs away from Bestwood.

A mixture of plain clothed and uniformed officers went out on foot over two days in a bid to spot anyone involved in drug activity.

Six suspects were stopped and searched by the police on patrol as part of the targeted operation, which was held on 2 April and 4 April.

A blade was recovered during one of these searches, which in turn led to an 18-year-old man being arrested on suspicion of possessing a knife in public.

The operation also allowed the team to gather large quantities of drug crime intelligence, disrupt drug dealers operating in the area, and engage with members of the public.   

Tackling drug activity has been a longstanding policing priority for the City North area, with neighbourhood officers in Bestwood carrying out a lot of work to target these offenders.

This has led to a five per cent rise in arrests, charges and other positive outcomes following reports of drug offending in the area, when comparing February and March with the two months before.

That is despite the number of overall reported drug activity offences actually dropping by 16 per cent over the same period.

There has also been a 14 per cent increase in Bestwood over the same time in positive outcomes following reports of shoplifting, which itself often has links to drug use.

And following the recent drug operation, the Bestwood neighbourhood policing team has promised to continue driving this positive momentum.

PC Nicholas Edwards, who led the operation, said: “Tackling drug crime has been one of our chosen policing priorities in Bestwood for a while now, because of the impact we know this can have on the whole community.

“Drugs can literally ruin people’s lives, while their presence on the streets brings nothing but trouble to communities and often leads to other criminality as a result, like shoplifting.

“We’ve had some recent success in terms of stopping shoplifters through targeted operations, so it was pleasing to be able to run our latest operation as a team – this time focusing on drug activity.

“By conducting a mixture of visible and plain clothed patrols around hot spot areas, we were able to disrupt drug dealers and drug users too, in the form of carrying out stop and searches and providing a crime deterrent.   

“On top of that, we were also able to engage with members of the public and provide them with some reassurance, while also gathering lots of intelligence around drug activity that could be really helpful going forward.”