With Inspector Mark Lund
I am writing this article to update you on the good work that has been undertaken in the Hunslet and Riverside ward.
Since December I have had the use of the Neighbourhood Impact Team and Team Leodis to assist with issues raised by the community, councillors and police intelligence.
This work is still ongoing, but we have made significant progress to tackle many of the issues. Thus far we have executed 13 warrants, fully closed 16 properties and partially closed 8. 21 arrests and counting have been made for a variety of offences.
9 criminal prevention notice warnings and 2 criminal prevention notices have been served.
A full criminal behaviour order has been issued, the first of its kind, to a drug dealer following conviction at court. This prevents him from residing in the Beeston area and has a number of other conditions. We are currently seeking further criminal behaviour orders for others who are causing harm in the community.
None of this work could have been conducted without the help of the community and I encourage continued reporting, we need the information and intelligence to act.
The work continues not just in Hunslet & Riverside, but across all of South Leeds and our dedicated social media platforms give updates on the work that we do. I am conscious that people report things and do not get an update or see any changes which is why we are trying to get the message out and tell the public what we are doing.
We conducted the first community-based day of action in Beeston on Friday 21 February, involving a number of partner agencies, police cadets, community groups and residents. This involved litter picking, fly tipping clearance and enforcement, trading standards visits to shops, police horses deployed in the area, a walk around with housing, residents visited and a number of other such activities.
Together with West Yorkshire Trading Standards and Wagtail UK Limited, 5 commercial premises were searched and thousands of illegal cigarettes and vapes were seized.
Traffic units issued over 16 tickets for various road traffic offences, made 2 arrests for being Over the Prescribed Limit and seized 3 vehicles that were not road legal.
NPT were out in force speaking and listening to the public. Our cadets and their unit leader, PC Jones, organised a clear up around the Heathcroft fields, clearing over 10 sacks of rubbish, and then undertook a test purchasing operation, testing for underage sales of alcohol and vapes, with 4 stores failing.
Linda Davis, Head of Trading Standards (Protecting Communities) said
“I would like to thank all the partners involved and members of the public for reporting illegal sales and encourage everyone to continue doing so to reduce the harm caused by tobacco in our communities far from being a victimless crime, the illegal trade in tobacco costs government billions each year in lost revenue, makes it easier for children to start smoking, takes advantage of cash-strapped families, and helps fund organised crime.”
We will be planning another in the coming months and I would encourage as many residents, community groups and agencies to join us and to become involved. This will be advertised in due course.
This post was written by Inspector Mark Lund of the Leeds South Neighbourhood Policing Team
Main photo: Meeting the publicoutside Morrisons
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