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Police crack down on drugs and knives in city centre

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• Sussex Police

Sussex Police turn up the heat

Tuesday, 22 July 2008

Sussex Police took to the streets this weekend in a carefully planned show of force targeting drug and knife crime in central Brighton. They released the following press statement on Tuesday 22nd July:

An operation run jointly by Sussex Police and the British Transport Police to disrupt the supply of drugs in Brighton's night time economy saw a number of people arrested on suspicion of possessing class A and class B drugs.

On Friday and Saturday nights, people were also scanned by metal detectors in searches for weapons in a response to the public's concerns about people carrying knives.

In total more than 20 people were arrested for drug offences but none of the hundreds of people who went through a metal detecting arch at Brighton Railway Station and outside nightclubs in West Street and Marine Parade was found to be carrying a knife.

Plainclothes police officers made sure people who tried to avoid the scans were checked.

In total, 17 people were arrested for possession of drugs, including heroin, cocaine and cannabis, out of 57 identified by the dogs.

One man was charged with possession of cocaine, while the remainder were either given formal warnings or cautions.

Later on, people queuing at some of the city’s nightclubs went through the arch and had their hands scanned by specialist "Ion Track" machines, which can detect tiny traces of drugs. Everybody checked in West Street and Kemp Town proved to have no significant traces of drugs on them.

However, officers spotted suspected drug dealing in West Street, Old Steine and Marine Parade and made several arrests.

Eight pubs outside the city centre were also subjected to licensing checks.

Inspector Andy Kundert said the clubs had been keen to work with police, rather than being specifically targeted because of known problems.

He said: "The aims were to disrupt the supply of class A drugs in the night-time economy and to reassure the public we were looking at their concerns with regards to knife crime. We got really good feedback from West Street and Kemp Town. They were pleased we were there. Nobody who entered any of the clubs was found with drugs on them."