DRUG DEALERS TARGET WESTCOUNTRY

A "relentless" campaign is being waged by the police against outside
drug dealers trying to infiltrate the Westcountry.

Chief Constable Stephen Otter told the Western Morning News that his
force was constantly targeting criminals - mainly from Liverpool,
Manchester and London - who were looking to move into Devon and Cornwall.

And he said they were particularly guarding against an increase in
street dealing of highly addictive crack-cocaine which is associated
with extreme gang violence.

"One of the triggers (for gang violence) are emerging open drugs
markets," Mr Otter said. "In many cases it is linked to drug dealing
on the streets, particularly crack-cocaine.

"For them it is high-reward, high-intensity drug dealing which drives
up street crime. That is something we are constantly
monitoring."

Mr Otter's comments follow a spate of high-profile killings this year,
mainly in London, which have been associated with gangs.

He stressed no area was "immune" to drug dealing or gang culture
although the pressures in the Westcountry were different from those in
significantly deprived inner-cities areas of Liverpool, Manchester,
Birmingham and London.

And Mr Otter said the police had made significant progress - often
behind the scenes - in disrupting the trade in illegal drugs. "We do a
lot of work through serious and organised crime, which doesn't often
get seen, targeting dealers who bring drugs in from elsewhere," the
chief constable said. "That work is going on all the time.

"Disrupting markets at a local level, like we have done in Barnstaple
and Torbay, is very much focused on catching dealers, convicting them
and putting them in prison.

"If we arrest one dealer, we need to link that to the next, more
serious level to disrupt these markets in key locations. We are
starting a more co-ordinated and relentless programme which will use
similar tactics."

He added: "We are determined to hit this hard enough so we don't get
this kind of drugs culture."

Gang culture, as associated with major cities in the UK, is relatively
unknown in Devon and Cornwall. However, police are determined to
tackle the crowds of youngsters who congregate in some areas,
increasing people's fears of crime.

Mr Otter said they were working closely with local authorities, crime
reduction partnerships and were "encouraging communities" to tackle
low-level crime, such as criminal damage and anti-social behaviour.

He said they had already successfully used dispersal orders in places
like Plymouth's North Prospect, behaviour contracts and anti-social
behaviour orders (Asbos).

"If you look at very local opinion surveys about what concerns them
most in communities, people will says 'teenagers'," Mr Otter said.

"My concern is that we have become so sensitive to what has always
been slightly rowdy behaviour by teenagers, that they have become the
problem in themselves. We are trying to find solutions to those
problems with local authorities and others."