Plain clothes police tackle drug dealers in Westcliff (From Southend Standard)
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Plain clothes police tackle drug dealers in Westcliff
11:00am Thursday 14th March 2013 in News
Police use uniformed officers alongside plain clothes operation
PLAIN clothes police have been operating near Westcliff Library to catch drug pushers.
They have launched Operation Doublet following a series of calls about dealers using bicycles and in cars.
Many have been darting in and out of alleyways off St George’s Park Drive to sell both class A drugs and cannabis.
The operation has seen more than 30 stop-checks carried out on suspects by non-uniformed officers since mid-February.
But they have also been bolstered by uniformed patrols to act as a deterrent.
A call to the neighbourhood policing phone number quoting the index number of a car has already yielded some positive results. P
olice managed to get to the scene within minutes and found heroin and crack cocaine in a car.
A woman received a caution because only small amounts were found.
Insp Brad Dickel, of Leigh police, said: “We’ve seen a very recent increase in drug-related calls reporting to the neighbourhood policing team in Westcliff, in particular around Westcliff Library and St George’s Park Drive with the dealers making use of the alleyways, very frequently covertly in plain clothes to combat this problem.
“We’ve seen some real success around driving these people out of this area.”
Police thanked local residents for their information and urged them to keep calling on the neighbourhood policing mobile phone on 07816661693.
Comments(21)
perini
says...
11:21am Thu 14 Mar 13
supermadmax
says...
11:37am Thu 14 Mar 13
It would also appear they have had no success in the past month. The lady cautioned for heroin was as a result of an unrelated call to the public.
They should have put a hidden camera in the ally, to get evidence & catch them in the act.
Not A Native
says...
11:53am Thu 14 Mar 13
supermadmax wrote:What if the ally didn't want a camera inserted into them?
I doubt bragging in the press is the most effective way of launching an undercover operation such as "Operation Doublet".
It would also appear they have had no success in the past month. The lady cautioned for heroin was as a result of an unrelated call to the public.
They should have put a hidden camera in the ally, to get evidence & catch them in the act.
Sean4u
says...
12:01pm Thu 14 Mar 13
How did the witness get the VIN?
Basildon_Boy
says...
12:09pm Thu 14 Mar 13
westborough resident
says...
12:18pm Thu 14 Mar 13
Unfortunately most of the time the police send PCSOs, they can only take names and addresses, and the majority of these criminals are not going to give their real details.
emcee
says...
1:10pm Thu 14 Mar 13
How-ironic
says...
1:15pm Thu 14 Mar 13
Basildon_Boy wrote:Was you taking these drugs as well, because how do you know if you saw an undercover cop or not??
If they did this in Basildon they would have a right result. I used to sell drugs about 5 years ago throughtout Basildon, in the dodgiest places too. Never once saw undercover cops! Maybe I was just lucky!
Soouthchurch59
says...
1:27pm Thu 14 Mar 13
DogsMessInLeigh
says...
1:48pm Thu 14 Mar 13
Sean4u wrote:Index numbers are the Registered number given to vehicle by the DVLA, many official places inc the Police and vehicle orientated businesses use the term 'index number'....failing that many vehicles have the VIN (vehicle id number/chassis number) displayed in the corner of the windscreen....so the witness may have got close enough to write down the many digits to the VIN...but more than likely it was the Index number (reg number) in this case.
"quoting the index number of a car"
How did the witness get the VIN?
Basildon_Boy
says...
1:51pm Thu 14 Mar 13
How-ironic wrote:nope I don't take drugs, I just sold them. I only started dealing to pay off my car and insurance. Luckily I knew the contacts.
Basildon_Boy wrote:Was you taking these drugs as well, because how do you know if you saw an undercover cop or not??
If they did this in Basildon they would have a right result. I used to sell drugs about 5 years ago throughtout Basildon, in the dodgiest places too. Never once saw undercover cops! Maybe I was just lucky!
Nebs
says...
2:26pm Thu 14 Mar 13
Basildon_Boy wrote:Hope you notified your insurance company about your income from drug dealing, otherwise they might invalidate your policy.
How-ironic wrote:nope I don't take drugs, I just sold them. I only started dealing to pay off my car and insurance. Luckily I knew the contacts.
Basildon_Boy wrote:Was you taking these drugs as well, because how do you know if you saw an undercover cop or not??
If they did this in Basildon they would have a right result. I used to sell drugs about 5 years ago throughtout Basildon, in the dodgiest places too. Never once saw undercover cops! Maybe I was just lucky!
DrSpiffSpaffington
says...
2:45pm Thu 14 Mar 13
zipster31
says...
3:48pm Thu 14 Mar 13
Basildon_Boy
says...
4:50pm Thu 14 Mar 13
Nebs wrote:That copper there looks as if he has had a right result with all the cocaine he has seized.
Basildon_Boy wrote:Hope you notified your insurance company about your income from drug dealing, otherwise they might invalidate your policy.
How-ironic wrote:nope I don't take drugs, I just sold them. I only started dealing to pay off my car and insurance. Luckily I knew the contacts.
Basildon_Boy wrote:Was you taking these drugs as well, because how do you know if you saw an undercover cop or not??
If they did this in Basildon they would have a right result. I used to sell drugs about 5 years ago throughtout Basildon, in the dodgiest places too. Never once saw undercover cops! Maybe I was just lucky!
WhateverS
says...
5:17pm Thu 14 Mar 13
shaun1965
says...
8:12pm Thu 14 Mar 13
another council tax payer
says...
8:26pm Thu 14 Mar 13
shaun1965 wrote:you have won **** of the week
poison the drugs that they seize then put it back out on the street, the best drug user is a dead drug user.
Not A Native
says...
9:16pm Thu 14 Mar 13
shaun1965 wrote:Yeah ok, we'll do the poisoning but only on condition that I have a little electrical doohickey, wired up to the interweb which I can use to electrocute people with every keystroke they make whilst they are making idiotic calls for the authorities to murder the population.
poison the drugs that they seize then put it back out on the street, the best drug user is a dead drug user.
Deal?
CaptainBlackadder
says...
10:53am Fri 15 Mar 13
Basildon_Boy wrote:'low','life' and 'scum' are the words that spring to mind...........
How-ironic wrote:nope I don't take drugs, I just sold them. I only started dealing to pay off my car and insurance. Luckily I knew the contacts.
Basildon_Boy wrote:Was you taking these drugs as well, because how do you know if you saw an undercover cop or not??
If they did this in Basildon they would have a right result. I used to sell drugs about 5 years ago throughtout Basildon, in the dodgiest places too. Never once saw undercover cops! Maybe I was just lucky!
jayman says...
11:11am Thu 14 Mar 13