ANARCHY COP BANS BRIXTON DRUG DOGS

THE police chief dubbed Commander Crackpot has banned sniffer dogs
from drug-riddled Brixton.

Brian Paddick, who sparked outrage last week by saying anarchy was
"appealing" reckons the animals upset Afro-Caribbeans living there.

But it was claimed last night the ban would hinder a massive
crack-down on street crime.

Mr Paddick ordered dogs to be kept out of the entire borough for
which he is responsible - Lambeth, South London.

It includes Brixton which is notorious for drug dealing and gun crime.

Locals were furious saying: "We need all the help we can get."

Mr Paddick issued his edict after talks with community leaders.

Frightening

A source told The Sun: "It is a cultural thing. some of the local
West Indian population find dogs very frightening and believe they
have connotations with the slave trade.

"There were extensive consultations between Mr Paddick and his senior
officers with consultative groups.

"As a result, the dog patrols have been asked to stay out of Lambeth
except on specific, intelligence-led operations."

The move puts Mr Paddick, known for his lenient attitude towards
cannabis, at odds with the Metropolitan Police's top brass.

They have launched a "Safer Streets" campaign to curb rocketing street crime.

Patrols using six dogs are being used throughout the capital to catch
people with drugs and weapons. That has now been ruled out in
Lambeth.

On Tuesday night, a unit in Catford, South East London, began random
checks on passengers at the borough's Stockwell Tube station.

Officers had a three-year-old labrador, called Josh, with them.

Handler, PC Lester Nicholson, said: "When we turned up for an
operation with the tactical support group and informed British
Transport Police office what we were doing, the Inspector said there
might be a problem.

"A phone call was made to Commander Paddick's office and we were that
they didn't want us working in Lambeth. And we were told that we
couldn't go anywhere near Brixton with dogs. No proper explanation
was given to us."

PC Nicholson, a cop for 32 years, added: "On average we have ben
making ten arrests every time we set up a check.

"We are not overly concerned about people carrying small amounts of
cannabis but we have been turning up people with guns and class A
drugs.

"The dogs are not in the least bit frightening."

Glen Smyth, chairmen of the Metropolitan Police Federation union,
said: "The digs are worth their weight in gold and quite simply we
cannot hope to stamp out the drug problem which fuels so many other
crimes without dogs trained to detect drugs."

Brixton street trader Winston Benjamin, 48, said: "Anything that can
be done to confront the problems we have here should be done.

"Sniffer dogs help the area and can only improve the area. so why
take them off the streets? It's a senseless idea."

Holiday

Lenny Taylor, 31, said: "You can go down to the market any time and
see crack dealers huddled in corners, selling their stuff.

"There's no police presence at all so taking sniffer dogs off the
streets will just make the problem worse."

Mr Paddick - the most senior openly gay cop in the country - is
currently on holiday with his boy-friend in Australia.

Last July he effectively decriminalised cannabis in Lambeth by
ordering his officers not to arrest people possessing the drug.

Offenders were given formal warnings instead.