Episode 2 Neighbourhood Blues

With unprecedented access, Neighbourhood Blues follows

the police in Somerset, as they take on the crimes that annoy us all.

-Don't manhandle me.

-Come over here.

Targeting antisocial behaviour,

drug abuse and criminal damage.

Beat officers and PCSOs tackle the problems that,

if left unchecked, could blight the lives of millions.

Armed with the latest cutting-edge kit,

they have the power to strike hard when needed.

Police, stay where you are!

-But just like the days of Dixon Of Dock Green...

-Good evening, all.

-..it's all about partnering with local people.

-Brilliant.

Working together to sweep crime off our streets.

Police, search warrant!

Coming up, offices raid a house, cracking down on drugs crime.

Police, drugs warrant!

And in Bridgwater, officers find an open-air cannabis farm.

Yeah, this is quite interesting.

Life on the Neighbourhood team is hugely varied.

From helping the elderly or vulnerable to chasing down

drug dealers and serious offenders,

offices never quite know what each day will bring.

In Weston-super-Mare, Jon Phippen

and Wayne Hughes are on patrol through the town centre.

And it is not long before they spot a woman that is well known to the

Neighbourhood team.

She is wanted for prison recall, I think.

Well, she was last week, so we are going to speak to her.

See if she's still wanted, and if she is

we will be taking her straight to court.

Hello, how are you, are you all right?

Over the radio, the team get confirmation that the woman IS still wanted.

Do you want me to grab your stuff?

-No, no, not going to get heavy.

-Look...

-I need to take hold of you, don't I?

-Where am I going now?

-You're probably going to go to...

-Straight to court.

-..magistrates'.

-Straight away.

The woman is wanted for not following her community punishment,

-after assaulting a charity worker.

-Can you get your hands off me?

-I'm just going to take hold of you.

-Do you want me to take her out the way?

-Very soft.

-Do you want me to get that? Is that a gentle touch?

Are you happy? Should we hold hands? Come on then.

Just with hanky.

-There you go. In you pop.

-'Sharon is well known to the police in Weston.'

We just spotted her in the town centre. She's been arrested,

and we're now hopefully going to take her to the magistrates' court.

But as the reality of her arrest sinks in,

-the woman's mood rapidly changes.

-No, you've ruined my

-BLEEP

-day.

Can I have a cigarette or drink, you know? I just want my own way now.

Coming on five years, I want everything my way

-and I'm lovely! Treat me like a bloody animal!

-Have you got any injuries?

-No.

-No, well, there you are...

-Have you?! Because you will have in a minute!

Joke! Are you sarcastic?

-Have you got a bit of wit?!

-Sharon, we're only taking you to the court.

I know, but I'm going to go to court, I'm going to prison.

-I might die in prison!

-Why might you go to prison?

-I don't know.

But you still need to go to court because you didn't appear, did you?

As the woman is wanted for failing to appear in court, the team

drop her straight to the custody suite at North Somerset Magistrates'.

-Mind your step, it is a big step, mind.

-Just stay away from us.

Next day, the woman's worst fears were realised when she was sentenced

to eight weeks in prison for failing to comply with her community order.

That's it, no. It is not funny!

After dropping the woman off, the team head to meet Anna Hall,

who has noticed an overwhelming smell of cannabis filling

the air on a quiet residential street.

That is a strong smell, isn't it? It stinks of weed.

Anna, which one is it?

Anna has traced the smell to some flats in a terraced house.

But when they get there...

..nobody is home.

Just a smell isn't enough justification for Jon to kick

the door in, so he calls for some tech that will give him

the proof he needs.

Any chance you can come out with the Ti

and do a check on the downstairs flat for me?

The road absolutely honks,

and we think that is where it is coming from.

The Ti machine is a thermal imaging camera.

It will spot any unusual heat sources.

For example, if there are any lamps being used to grow cannabis.

Just checking the address to see

if there's any obvious signs of cannabis growing.

Usually you get telltale signs on the window. Damp,

and the windows are covered. Sometimes air vents.

A PCSO arrives with the thermal imaging camera,

to check out the flat.

The bottom window is there. We've got a heat source from the frame.

Compare that up to the top one, we've got bars.

You haven't got the heat.

So it is going for one of the two.

-We've spoken to upstairs. I think it is downstairs.

-It is the bottom one.

The team head round the back to see

if they can pick up any other irregular sources of heat.

We've got a similar unusual heat source on the back window as well.

So I think there is every likelihood there is a cannabis grower at this location.

So we will probably look to get a warrant and come back to the address.

The next day, Jon Phippen returns.

This time, armed with a warrant.

Do you want to cover the back entrance?

Two officers head down the alley to cover the back,

while Jon tries the front door.

DOORBELL RINGS

But just like yesterday, there's no movement inside.

People have gone to the back of the...

property, with the reason being that obviously

if someone has seen the police outside, often they will run

out the back, so by covering that, we discount that straightaway.

-Hello.

-Hiya, are you all right?

The flats are all behind a communal door, which is

eventually opened by someone else who lives in the building.

When John bangs the door of the flat... KNOCKING

-..two guys finally answer.

-Hello, mate, you all right?

-Hello?

-How are you?

Basically, mate, we've got reason to believe there is a cannabis

-cultivation at the address, OK?

-But before Jon can get in,

an officer watching the back of the flat raises the alarm.

..cultivating cannabis, all right? So, I'll come in...

Jon, they've gone out the back and there's something in the lane.

I'm going to arrest you both on suspicion of cultivating cannabis.

-Is there anything in here that shouldn't be?

-No.

-Really? Cos I came through here yesterday,

-and the house absolutely stank.

-How many are in here?

We smoke a bit of weed, yeah, OK? I admit that. But please don't...

-If you resist me...

-I'm not resisting, just please...

-Put your hands down. You are tensing up.

-Just relax...

-You are tensing up at me.

-I'm not, honestly...

You're NOT complying with instructions. Just behave yourself.

It's no wonder the lads are edgy.

One glance around the room reveals lots of cannabis-related paraphernalia.

Just going to give you a quick pat-down, mate.

-You got anything on you you shouldn't have?

-No.

-I'll get these off you in a second, all right?

Appreciate you're a bit freaked out by what's going on. All right.

Why is there such a strong smell coming from your house, then?

Got any weapons or anything like that on you? No?

With no drugs found on the lads,

it's time to find out what happened out the back of the flat.

My colleagues at the rear of the property,

while they've been covering it, have seen a male dressed in a green top,

which would match one of the males we've got in the front, detained,

erm, chucking something at the back of the house.

That might explain why they took so long to open the door.

-So, I believe it's this blue tub. Is that right?

-Yeah.

Outside, why was one of the lads trying to hide this box?

We've got a blue plastic tub with a towel over the top.

Erm, and hidden within it is a cannabis flowering head.

So, we'll be seizing this, taking the two gentlemen to the police station,

where they will be interviewed about the offence.

Officers have found a huge haul of freshly harvested cannabis.

There's a lot of it, as well, isn't there?

Time to confront the lads with their evidence.

You've been seen to have dumped this out the back.

With the flowering head in...

So, you two are both going to be coming to the police station

with me for an interview about this. All right?

If the lads were growing cannabis, it looks like they've recently

harvested their plants and dismantled equipment.

This is the...the common...

one of the fertilisers used to cultivate a grow.

Erm, we've also got a grow tent. We've got the lights,

the high-powered bulbs that are used in cannabis set-ups.

This system would be connected to this tubing, erm, which is

what they used to air the cannabis out of the house.

We believe there's the two plastic tubs there on the floor,

they've got the remnants of the same type of cannabis in.

So, we believe they were probably full of cannabis.

They've emptied them in the tub and run out the back to dump them.

At the end of the search, both lads are taken back to the station to be interviewed.

The police decided there was no evidence that the men were growing cannabis.

No further action was taken against the man in the blue hoodie.

But the man in the green hoodie was convicted with

possession of cannabis

and was ordered to pay £280 in costs.

Having great relationships with local people is one of the most important

weapons in the fight against crime for the Neighbourhood teams.

Near Bridgwater, Tex Freeman and Dan Wheller are out in the 4x4,

which is essential kit when you police a rural patch.

DOORBELL RINGS

They've been called out here by a farmer

who may have found something of interest.

-I run the field together with my brother.

-Yeah.

-And a local person wanted to keep some bees.

-OK.

And put some hives in my garden. But when he came and looked around, he said,

"The garden is not an ideal situation.

"You've got a field out Eastside Lane, that I went to last year.

"Could I go out and look to see if that is suitable?"

-And that is when he found the cannabis plants.

-Right, OK.

The man was searching for a suitable land for his beehives,

when he came across what he thinks might be cannabis plants.

Tex goes to investigate.

In the UK, most cannabis is grown indoors in special tents

but it isn't unheard of for growers to hide plants in the wild.

They follow the farmer and end up in a single-lane road,

well off the beaten path.

Just getting a few bags out to scrunch the plants into.

As the road is a dead end, Dan suspects the cannabis planters may be locals.

-Well, there's the first plant there.

-OK, yeah.

-Yeah, fertiliser on the floor with it.

-Oh, is there?

-Yeah.

That's what the balls are.

The first plant they find would have been easy to miss amongst

the ferns and brush. It looks like the seeds could have been blown here.

Until they have a good look at the roots.

These are slow-release fertiliser balls.

A sure sign that this seedling has been planted.

Yeah, Oh, yeah. That's the giveaway with cannabis.

Just down the path, they find another cannabis plant.

This one is bigger than the last.

But it looks like they've caught them in time,

-as these plants aren't harvestable yet.

-Yeah, no, they're not ready.

You've got like a furry bud that comes and that's the bush side of it.

That's the best part of it, which they use. The buds are strong stuff.

That's the stuff that...

Like many people, the landowner is unsure what class of drug cannabis actually is.

-Is it Class B or C?

-Class B.

-Class B, yeah.

What they've done, they declassified it to a C.

So it's always been illegal but that caused a bit of mix-up with people.

But what happened is they then looked at it,

after making that decision, done a bit more research in it

and decided that, actually, this cannabis -

which everyone says is all right, and it's fine,

and it's OK - contributes to 80% of the mental health cases that come into custody units.

The farmer says that there's some more plants just down the path.

This is like a nature cannabis trail!

Usually, when police do find these plants outside,

it's because they've been planted and left.

But there are signs here that somebody has been coming back

-to tend to them.

-Usually, they dump them in a field.

I've gone to that before, where they've dumped them off,

but never cultivating in a field.

It'll be interesting to see what sort of set-up they've got, to be honest.

The farmer wasn't joking.

Rather than being a couple of stray plants, there are over a dozen,

fenced off to stop them being eaten by animals.

Time, effort and planning has gone into this.

Yeah, this is quite interesting,

the fact that they've just picked a spot in the middle of nowhere.

Each plant has to be pulled up, broken

-and stuffed into evidence backs.

-It's like Jack And The Beanstalk.

The thing is, if they've done this here, the question is,

how many more have they got on other people's land, scattered about?

There's just under 20 mature plants here.

Each with the potential to make hundreds of pounds of drugs per crop.

Depending on how the plants go, how the bud goes,

it could be £300 a plant, you know,

and when you start adding it up, you think, "Well, there's 10,

"11, 12, 13, 14..." you know, it soon adds up, doesn't it?

For a legitimate farmer, finding out someone else is using your land

to harvest their illegal crops is a worrying thought.

I can't believe someone's growing plants on the land,

on our land, and of course, I was worried about the implications of me

and my brother being landowners.

If he hadn't come down here thinking it was a good spot

for his mate with the bees, we'd never have known.

Never have known and they could have cropped them

and gone on and, you know, made some serious money. So...

Tex knows the cannabis growers will be back. But when is anybody's guess.

And once they realise their plants have gone,

they're unlikely to come anywhere near the area again.

But even so, Tex and Dan plan to come back again to check they haven't replanted.

You're on our patch, so we'll come out and have a walk down here every now and again.

They may never catch whoever did this.

But it is still a great result for the Neighbourhood team.

Although they're not ready to crop now, it means

we can get rid of them and it's another lot of cannabis off the street.

CAR HORN TOOTS

When it comes to tackling drugs in our communities,

Neighbourhood Police are on the front line, fighting the drugs trade.

As well as taking drugs off the streets, high-profile raids

send a strong message to the neighbourhood,

that police take their concerns seriously and won't tolerate drugs.

SHOUTING

In Keynsham, Sgt Will Stephens is planning to raid

a house in a crackdown on drugs in the town.

Team Five North will have attached to them...

This is Operation Denby, which is basically an operation that's come off the back of some intelligence.

It would be fair to say that the last couple of months,

the supply of them has really, really kicked off.

Erm, you can pretty much get what you want in the town of Keynsham.

The team's tactic is to get in quick before anyone can tip them off that they are being raided.

So, really, once we get in, I want people, I want their phones,

really. I want to prevent them from briefing their colleagues,

letting their colleagues know what's going on.

After Will's briefing, it will be Acting Sergeant Rob Lange's

responsibility for getting in safely and unseen.

Let's get kitted up and go, then.

The plan of action is we're going to go down with the two vehicles.

If you two guys can take it straight upstairs with me,

and then the rest will follow in downstairs.

We're coming up to it now, guys!

Rob's team race across the estate to get in as quickly as possible.

And find the door open...

Police, drugs warrant!

Police!

But is there anyone in?

We've got a Misuse Of Drugs Act Warrant to search these premises.

That's all right...

OK, you are going to be detained here for the purpose of the search.

You're going to be searched, as you are in the address.

-And also the address itself. All right?

-Yeah, no problem.

-That's the warrant there, fella, OK?

-Yeah, that's fine. Yeah, no problem.

-So, who lives here then?

-The man's just visiting this address.

You just stopping by, then?

Unfortunately for him,

there's what looks like a bag of cannabis on the sofa next to him.

Well, it stinks like there's a grow in here.

OK, mate, all right.

Rob updates Will on the team's progress.

-He doesn't live here, he's saying he's just visiting.

-All right.

But there's nobody else here at all. The door was open. Front and back.

Ideal.

So they're not bothered about people

coming in, OR they need to get in and out quick.

Time for the drugs dog to dig out any more dope.

Upstairs in the room's a bit of herbal cannabis upstairs,

which the gentleman inside has told the officers is his.

If it is just a little bit of cannabis, he will probably be

street bailed to come back to the station at a later date.

Erm, if there is some more Class A, then they'll likely be arrested,

and anybody else who turns up, and an investigation will go on from there.

In the kitchen, Mike Easton is conducting a meticulous search of everything

in the room, including a strange object he's found on the floor.

-It's a whale! It's a whale?!

-HE LAUGHS

He was tucked underneath the kick board,

just within a hand distance.

Mike's also found a suspicious looking ziplock bag on top of a cupboard.

At first glance, it looks like drugs

and could have been left as a deliberate distraction.

For some reason, that was at the top of the...

At the other side of the... top of the cupboards there.

Actually, why would anybody put a little bag of sugar up there?

Straight away, my attention was drawn to that one there.

But we can point it to the sugar there. It is what it is.

With nothing in the kitchen,

upstairs, the drugs dog makes a discovery.

She's indicating on that tin on the side.

When she puts her nose back down on there, she'll get her tennis ball.

There we go. Good girl, Holly!

Good girl! Good girl!

INDISTINCT CHATTER

Such a strong smell, cannabis.

You know, and the dog's obviously got a better sense of smell than

we have, so a small amount like that is no problem for her to find.

Holly! Now she just wants to play with the ball. That's her reward!

Outside, the heavy police presence is attracting a lot of attention.

And although they've only found a small amount of drugs,

Will's pleased with how this raid has gone.

The person in that property,

he's been found in possession of drugs anyway.

So, we'll probably detain him and use our police powers to

search his home address and see if he's got any gear at his home address.

So we're just basically topping and tailing that at the moment.

Making sure that we're not missing any gear that he may or may not have on him.

It's not the massive quantities of controlled drugs that we were looking for.

But we have found quantities which necessitate the persons

being arrested or dealt with, you know, dealt with by us, for it.

So I'm pretty pleased.

Because this lad has been caught with cannabis,

the police have powers, under Section 18, to search his home address.

It turns out the man lives with his mother.

Although she's not under suspicion, officers decide to search his room.

News of the raid is obviously spreading.

By the time officers arrive, there's a note waiting for them on her door.

-She's left us a note.

-Yeah, "Do not knock my door...of." Of?

-Is that what it actually says?

-"Do not knock my door of."

-HE LAUGHS

-There's not going to be any gear in there, is there?

-HE LAUGHS

The note said, "Do not knock my door of."

So she obviously knows, so someone has obviously given her a ring

and told her that we are on our way down.

Erm, with that in mind, I think

it's highly unlikely that we're going to find any gear there.

But I think, really, it's appropriate just to make sure.

After calling the man's mum, she quickly returns home

and a search gets underway.

So that was the note that was left on the door.

Somebody had informed her that her son had been arrested.

Which we thought might be the case. She obviously knew we were on our way.

So it's interesting how quickly information sort of spreads

when we do execute warrants.

After an extensive search of the lad's room,

no further evidence of drugs were found.

Cracking down hard on drugs is always a top priority for the Neighbourhood Policing Team.

It was a useful step forward for us, really, in the area.

We've already had messages back from members of the community,

basically saying they're really pleased with what we did.

-Police, drugs warrant!

-Police!

We believe that we've displaced some of the activity that's going on.

And I think with a little bit more work,

hopefully we can make a really lasting impact in the area.

In court, the man in the house pleaded guilty to cannabis possession.

He was on a suspended sentence for assault.

This breach meant he was given seven days in prison

and fines totalling £260.

Dealing with drunk people takes up huge amounts of police time.

-Why do you want hands? Why do you want my hands?

-Put them like that.

And when it comes to dealing with persistent street drinkers...

If I see you back in the city centre you're going to have

a bed for the night. Now, go away.

PCSOs are often first on the scene.

Go! Now.

Carrying out vital work to keep the public safe.

Oh, no.

Leaving front-line officers to fight crime.

In Bath, PCSOs Howie Wilton and Brian Harris

are patrolling the city centre.

The travelling time on foot? I have not got a vehicle.

The area's an alcohol-free zone but many street drinkers ignore the ban.

Brian has just spotted a man he sees regularly passed out on the pavement.

He gets quite well oiled through the day with

bottles of wine and beer, etc.

He's just flaked out on the floor

so we're going to have a chat with him to make sure he's OK.

You have to get yourself up from here, my old mate.

Put that leg out.

-Let's go for it. Ready?

-Yes.

-All right?

-Yeah.

Just come and stand against the wall a minute and get your bearings.

-Stand yourself against the wall. That's it.

-Thank you.

This guy's happy to take directions

but not all street drinkers are so easy to move on.

Charlie Sierra 7126 Echo,

can I have a quick talk through with my colleague, 8131?

Less than ten minutes' walk away, Howie is responding to a call

about some street drinkers causing a disturbance opposite the Bath YMCA.

It's a regular issue for us in relation to street drinking

and antisocial behaviour.

We've had a call, they're more than likely round the corner.

It'll be words of advice, seizing alcohol,

dealing with any offences that we come across.

Let's crack on.

Gentleman, you can't drink here.

Two guys in a doorway are openly drinking,

so Howie confiscates the men's half-drunk beers.

Right, you're going to have to move on, unfortunately.

Well, it's your cross to bear, not mine. I can't carry two.

-My cross to bear?

-Yeah, but you can't sit here, all right?

-Why not?

It's an area that courts antisocial behaviour.

-You're not allowed to sit here.

-I've still got my notice.

That's fine.

-In my pocket.

-OK.

Pick up your hat and all your change.

-We'll let you go out that way.

-Have you got any change?

I haven't got any, mate. It's payday tonight.

I don't get paid till this evening.

All right?

Across town, Brian has at least got his sleepy drinker up on his feet

and ready to move.

You can't sleep around here, because if you sleep around here

we're going to get called.

-Where are you going to go?

-I'll sit on the bench.

-Are you? Where are we going to get you to a bench?

-Just up the road.

Are you going to walk up there all right?

-Do you want me to walk you to that bench over there?

-Yes.

-Will that be the best one? Do you want me to hang on to you?

-Yes.

-Come on, then.

-Thank you.

Sit yourself in the corner here.

You've got a high back on this bench so you won't fall backwards.

I'm going to leave that drink with you now, but if CCTV tell me

you're drinking it, I'm going to take it off you.

It's in your interest not to sit here and start drinking it,

otherwise I'll come and get it off you.

-Is that water in there or is that gin?

-That's water.

Drink that and get yourself sobered up. Not the other bottle, yeah?

All right?

This man's very well behaved and not causing the PCSOs any problems.

But it is not always this easy.

-You'll be OK if I leave you?

-Yes, sure.

-OK, all right.

-Thank you.

We're seeing the same people time and time again,

especially with the alcoholics.

It's a part of the job that you've got to just get on

and deal with, really, and you try and deal with them the best you can.

But across town, Howie is still trying

to persuade the two men to move on.

If you leave that way, you haven't got to worry

about getting thrown down the steps, all right?

Charlie Sierra 7126 Echo...

No, you're going to have to move on, mate, come on.

-Can you help Tone up, mate?

-No! Why don't you do it? You're the police officer!

-Well, you're the gentleman who's bought him here. You know...

-Have I?

Well, he hasn't got here on his own account, has he?

As one of the guys is apparently blind,

Howie's concerned about moving them on safely.

Just go and find somewhere else to sit.

Don't be coming back here in the near future.

Go that way, as opposed to down the steep steps, all right?

-No, I'm not going to take him down the steps.

-No, I know.

No, you're a very caring, sort of sensible person, aren't you?

But before he moves on, he has something to show Howie.

Right, come on, chaps!

Ready! Roooaaarrh!

Glenn, that's very good, but it's not achieving very much.

Come on, pick up your cigarette, mate.

-No, wait for it! No, because...

-I'll turn the camera off.

-Wait, wait!

-Glenn! Come on!

-No, no, not yet!

-Glenn! Come on.

-I've got things to do, places to go, people to see...

-So have I!

..and you're not one of them at the moment. Come on, then! Tone can't stand there all day.

Point finally taken, the two men slowly head off on their merry way.

Cracking down hard on street drinking helps prevent antisocial behaviour

and other alcohol-fuelled crime.

We leave these people here to become antisocial, they could start using

drugs, they could start fighting, start using foul, abusive language.

It has a direct impact on the YMCA as a business

and the other businesses around the location as well.

That's why we do what we do in relation to this area.

We have seen today how Neighbourhood teams will always go

that extra mile to keep their community safe.

See you next time for more Neighbourhood Blues.