Dorset Police joining other South West forces on drugs operation
There's a focus on tackling things like county lines dealing
Cross-border organised and drug-related crime is the focus of Police across the South West this week.
Operation Scorpion's taking place across the region, including within Dorset Police.
It's targeting drug problems locally, aiming to stop things like county lines dealing and young people being dragged into long term criminality.
Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall, Gloucestershire and Avon and Somerset are also taking part in the joint action.
Wiltshire Police and Crime Commissioner Philip Wilkinson is the regional spokesperson for the operation.
He's urging communities and residents to watch out for signs of county lines dealing – where drugs are transported, usually by children or vulnerable people who are coerced by gangs – and report information to police or anonymously to Crimestoppers:
"County Lines, and associated drug crime, isn’t just a problem for urban police forces – it’s here, in the beautiful south west, and it’s often hidden in plain sight.
“All PCCs have heard, loud and clear, how their residents are sick to the death of the drug dealers operating in our communities – destroying their daily lives and making it impossible, on occasion, for ordinary lives to continue. The knock-on effects of drug dealers in communities can make life unbearable.
“The absolute key to the success of this work, and the targeting of ongoing police operations, is the intelligence gathered and given to us by our communities. All police forces across the south west - need to know where this criminality is happening, build an intelligence-rich picture and then they will take action.
“Across the south west, myself and the other Police and Crime Commissioners – and our respective forces - are working relentlessly to ensure that county lines dealing operations can be driven out of our villages, towns and cities by police working closely with local people.
“Local communities can be assured that we are going to make their lives so uncomfortable they no longer see the south west as a soft option for their criminality.
“The message is really simple: we are going to make the south west a hostile environment for all drug dealers.”
As a result of Operation Scorpion's efforts over the last few months, all police forces in the South West are among England's top 10 for county lines drug dealing interceptions.