County Lines drug gangs are 'actively' avoiding Dorchester
Police say they have taken firm action against gangs coming in from other areas
County Lines drug dealers are actively avoiding Dorchester – according to the leader of the town’s neighbourhood policing team.
Sgt Matt Whethan told town councillors that although there still is drug dealing in the town the organised County Lines gangs are staying away after the success of his team in quickly spotting and dealing with them.
He also claimed some success in dealing with recent outbreaks of vandalism which has seen windows broken in the town centre, following a social media trend of kicking doors, and an assault on the Duchy estate at Poundbury when a resident intervened and was assaulted – with three people since interviewed in response to the attack.
He said that patrols had been increased after other anti-social activities in Trinity Street, the Borough Gardens and on the riverside walks.
Many of the problems were being tackled by sending warning letter as the Dorset Police policy was not to, unnecessarily, criminalise young people. The Sergeant said that tactic seemed to be working and there had been a marked decline in incidents.
He told councillors that officers had to be brought into the town from other areas to help deal with the problems as he only had a team of two PCs and 4 Community Support Officers, a situation he said he would like to see changed by adding more staff, although said that was “unlikely to happen anytime soon.”
Incidents dealt with in April included 102 crimes, 3 commercial burglaries, 15 incidents of criminal damage, 24 thefts, 8 vehicle offences and 42 calls about violence.
Sgt Whethan said that all police leave had been cancelled for the coming jubilee weekend and there had been other busy weekends identified later in the year when all staff would also be working 12-hour shifts.
Cllr Richard Biggs said he believed anti-social behaviour incidents were widely under-reported because people could not be bothered. He said that he had tried to report an incident in the Borough Gardens, which had taken 25 minutes to achieve, and had included the operator asking for his date of birth.