WEAPON AND DRUG SCANNER LAUNCHED

KENT police is the first force in the country to use portable scanners
with drug detectors to crack down on knife crime and substance abuse.

The force received UKP21,000 from the Government Office for the South
East to buy eight portable scanners.

It is the first in the country to use scanners, which detect knives
and weapons, alongside sniffer dogs and swabbing equipment.

A swab is taken of a person's hands or body. The machine then takes a
reading of the swab and detects if the person has been in contact with
narcotics or explosives.

The scanners, which can fold down to the size of a shopping trolley,
were first used on December 1.

"Airport style archway" scanners were used at Bluewater shopping
centre.

Police made two arrests at the centre's bus station.

One man was arrested for having a lock-knife and another for
possession of cannabis.

Chief Inspector Mark Harrison, who decides where the scanners go, says
shoppers welcomed them.

He said: "People told us they felt safer after they went through the
scanners and backed them as a really good idea."

That evening, the equipment was used at Air and Breathe nightclub in
Essex Road, Dartford.

Police checked 1,200 people as they went into the club, and although
nobody was caught with any weapons, three arrests were made for drug
possession.

Chief Insp Harrison says the equipment will be used at train stations,
shopping centres and nightclubs throughout north Kent.

He said: "Because it is so easy to move the airport-style archway
scanners, we can go anywhere in the county at short notice.

"The people who continue to carry knives and drugs will be found out
with these machines."

Dartford council leader Councillor Jeremy Kite said: "It is a shame we
have to use the scanners in the first place, but the only people with
something to fear are the people carrying the weapons or drugs."