Police dog helps officers in drugs crackdown

Cambridgeshire police said the dog was used to detect and deter recreational drug use in Peterborough

A police dog was used to aid an anti-drugs campaign across a city centre.

Cambridgeshire Police in Peterborough used the help of a passive drug dog to detect and deter recreational drug use during the city centre's night-time economy.

Operation Indicative was the first of its kind to be run in the county and led to 10 stop and searches being carried out, police said.

Sgt Paul Delmer, who led the operation, said: "This is a tactic our colleagues from Nottinghamshire Police regularly use in their city centre, therefore we sought their support to run the operation here in Peterborough last week."

The operation consisted of two parts – the first was using a passive drugs dog to detect individuals who are, or had been, in contact with or possession of drugs.

Anyone who the dog "indicated" was spoken to by police officers, and if there were reasonable grounds a stop and search was carried out.

Plain-clothed officers were also on patrol to act as additional eyes on the lookout for suspicious behaviour, along with the assistance from CCTV operators.

The second part saw spot checks of licenced premises by police and council licensing officers to ensure venues had correct licences and enough staff for the venue's capacity.

• Ten stop-searches were carried out, with four positive finds of drugs (cannabis and cocaine) which resulted in three out of court disposals and one under investigation

• Ten licenced venues were checked by the Security Industry Authority – all of which were compliant

• Twenty-eight door supervisors were checked – all of whom had valid licences, however two were given verbal warnings for not having their licences on display

The operation held on Friday led to 10 stop and searches in Peterborough city centre

Sgt Delmer added: "We know that drug consumption mixed with alcohol can be a lethal combination often leading to violent or aggressive behaviour which we don't want in our city when people are trying to enjoy themselves.

"As we enter the Christmas period and the city gets busier, its important people know the work we are doing alongside our partners and the night-time economy businesses to make our city as safe as possible.

"The operation drew a lot of attention from members of the public who were interested in what we were doing so this was a good opportunity to educate them and explain what the operation was about."