CAMPAIGN SPARKS SURGE IN TIP-OFFS

A deliberately high profile operation against drug dealers in South
Yorkshire has resulted in a surge in calls from the public offering
information about offenders in their neighbourhoods.

South Yorkshire Police have spent a month targeting all levels of drug
traffickers and dealers as part of a wider clampdown on crime in the
county and made more than 400 arrests as a result.

More than a quarter of those are suspected dealers and police seized
drugs worth around UKP640,000 in a series of raids on properties across
the county.

Police also recovered a range of firearms, including a sawn-off
shotgun and modified air guns.

While officers were involved in those searches, they adopted
deliberately overt tactics, parking their vehicles on the streets
affected and even putting out notice boards explaining officers were
involved in anti-drugs work.

That has resulted in an increase in calls to the Crimestoppers
freephone number, where people are encouraged to leave information
about criminals, by around a third since the start of the work a month
ago. In addition, officers have been out with stalls in supermarkets
and shopping centres explaining the tactics to visitors and inviting
them to pass on information about their suspicions.

Police say that has significantly improved their intelligence on the
drugs trade in the county and will allow them to conduct more
effective work against dealers in the future.