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National Tackling Drugs Week

How does this affect you?

Drugs misuse in the UK is costing all of us in the UK a fortune, which we can ill afford in these troubled financial times. Most of the property crime in the UK such as thefts of personal property, burglaries, thefts from cars and some shoplifting is committed to fund drug habits. That puts up the price of your household and car insurance as well as the price of the goods in shops. Add to that the human misery of all the victims of these crimes, not to mention the physical damage to the lives of the users and the hurt to their families.

Together we can make a difference.

At a national level the Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) and the UK Border Agency (UKBA) are arresting large scale importers of the most harmful of drugs known as class A drugs.

At a local level there are huge numbers of people in Hertfordshire working to deal with or help eradicate the problem of drugs. These include Drugs Action Teams (DATs), Drug and Alcohol Action Teams (DAATs), Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs), Community Safety Partnerships, Community Safety Teams, Police Service / Neighbourhood Policing Teams, Local Agencies, Voluntary and Third Sector Groups, Neighbourhood Watch Schemes, Tenants and Residents Associations.

Schemes to treat drugs users are working. The support by drug treatment services stabilises drug users' lives, resulting in fewer crimes and a reduced health risk to themselves and others. There are workers on this scheme in police stations, courts and prisons to help users move away from drugs and a life of crime.

The police are cracking down on drug related crime, as well as closing crack houses and cannabis factories. They also use the Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA), which you can read about elsewhere on this site, to take the illegal earnings, cash, cars and other property from drug dealers. Neighbourhood Policing Teams are obtaining community intelligence, which is acted upon quickly, to stop dealers and users destroying your neighbourhood.

What can you do to help?

• Speak to your local Neighbourhood Policing Team and let them know about any drugs activity in your area.
• If for any reason you feel that you cannot speak to the police about drug crime that is a problem in your area then:

Call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111

You will not be asked for your name, simply what you know.

What information might be useful to Crimestoppers?

• Who is dealing drugs in your area?
• Where are they dealing?
• What are they dealing?
• When are they dealing?

Is there anyone living a lifestyle that suggests this may be funded from the proceeds of drug dealing (flash car, not working, lots of money to spend, expensive holidays or lots of callers at their address day and night).

We are not asking you to go out searching for this information or to put yourself in danger. Simply let us know what you see and what you hear in pubs, clubs and in your neighbourhood. Other people will then put the jigsaw together. If you and your family want to live in a safer neighbourhood we need your help.

The information will then be sent to the police in such a way that nobody will ever know where the information came from.

Help make your neighbourhood drugs free. Make that call now to Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. You can make a difference.

Between April 2008 - March 2009 illegal drugs with a street value of £19,111,090 were recovered following calls to Crimestoppers.

If you want to read about some of the things going on nationally and locally to deal with drug problems then please visit the following sites by clicking on the titles below:

• The Home Office
• Hertfordshire Constabulary
• For Young People
• NHS Health Promotion Hertfordshire

Crimestoppers Trust is a Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered in England No. 5382856. Registered Charity No. 1108687 (England) and SC037960 (Scotland). Registered Office: Apollo House, 66A London Road, Morden, Surrey, SM4 5BE