Drugs and alcohol seized by police (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Drugs and alcohol seized by police

8:20am Thursday 9th October 2008

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POLICE operations in the Meon Valley resulted in drugs and alcohol seizures.

Over the summer, officers from the Meon Valley South Safer Neighbourhoods Team launched two operations to address reports of rowdy and inconsiderate behaviour.

Operation Bounce and Operation Focus were carried out by officers after police noticed youths hanging about outside shops, in the street and on recreation grounds in the late evening and early mornings in areas including Denmead, Knowle and Whiteley.

Most of those who gathered in these areas did not cause trouble, but there was a small minority who engaged in underage drinking, criminal damage and noise disturbance.

As part of the operations, officers conducted extra patrols with the aim to disperse groups and deal effectively with any anti-social behaviour and crime.

During the operations, officers completed 41 stop checks and searches that resulted in 15 alcohol seizures.

Officers also carried out 12 searches for drugs which resulted in five street warnings being issued for Possession of Class C drugs, one person being arrested on suspicion of the Unlawful Possession of Class C drugs, one person being reported for summons for the Unlawful Possession of Class C drugs and one person being charged with Unlawful Possession of Class C Drugs.

Sergeant Chris Stanton, said: “These types of operations show that we will not tolerate this kind of behaviour.

“Now that these operations have finished, we have had time to reflect the results and we feel that the operations have contributed significantly to the low levels of anti-social behaviour we currently have. However, we recognise that this is an ongoing process and we will continue to target our resources where they will be most effective. These operations show that we deal with complaints seriously and I would urge the community to continue contacting us about any problems they have by using the 101 phone number.”

Operation Focus is a Winchester district-wide operation that saw dedicated teams of officers patrolling hotspots.

Operation Bounce was a similar operation, set up by Sgt Chris Stanton specifically for his Safer Neighbourhood Team area.

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