Episode 8 Neighbourhood Blues

Neighbourhood policing has come a long way

since the days of Dixon of Dock Green.

Good evening, all.

From inner city estates to suburbia,

this new generation of community police officers

are on the front line.

Police!

They're there to listen to the concerns of the public.

Clearly, you people care about your communities.

..and tasked with wiping out the crimes

that take place on your doorstep.

You're under arrest, mate.

All in a bid to make the streets where you live a safer place.

Coming up,

the team investigate a mysterious crime scene.

The riverside neighbourhood unit continue their crackdown on drugs

during a morning raid.

And a new strategy sees the police try to shut up shop

on the oldest profession in the world.

I don't work!

Yes, you do.

Every year, the neighbourhood police teams in Humberside

take tens of thousands of calls from worried residents.

The police call these doorstep crimes.

They're a blight on everyday life,

and one they are determined to stamp out.

All across Humberside, neighbourhood police teams are working hard

to make themselves valuable and visible members of the community.

As well as beat walks and patrols,

the teams have had great success getting to grips with

residents' worries by holding regular surgeries and meetings.

Every month, neighbourhood officer PC Dave Bullock

is giving local people an update on what the police are doing

about problems raised during his last meeting a month ago.

And now, top of the agenda today is a problem usually found

in cities, but has now spread to the suburbs.

The majority of these calls came in terms of prostitutes

approaching people, and that's one of the things that,

as a station, we want to increase on our priority list

-is prostitutes and loitering around the

-BLEEP

-area,

and we've had a few calls over recent days.

The issues raised during the meeting confirms the police's fears

that prostitution has rocketed in the past few months.

When I walk back home, there's a little area near the train station

and you see ladies hanging around

and it's obvious that they're prostitutes.

It was a problem the neighbourhood teams at Hull

thought they had seen the back of,

but the credit crunch has seen a whole new generation of young women

fall into this dangerous trade.

To tackle the problem, they're going back to the drawing board,

starting by making a record of all the hot spots

visited by working girls.

First up is a visit to an area that the police have received

an increasing number of complaints from the public about.

The main drag of Hessle Road to one of the spots

which is favoured by the working girls.

They'll stand there, they'll get picked up

and then they'll come round here into this lay-by here.

But it's nice and tucked in and you just can't see it.

There's no CCTV cameras to cover it.

They can be in there, do the business and they can be back

out on the street looking for another client in 10 minutes.

The residents of a nearby sheltered housing estate

are particularly worried about the problem.

I'm the Housing Manager at Hull Churches Housing,

which St Barnabas Court scheme is behind me,

which is predominantly elderly residents.

We've had a problem with prostitution as the prostitutes

have moved further out of the town centre.

The actual impact on them is that they are very concerned and have

become very, very security conscious.

As night falls, the mapping of the hot spots continues

with the team heading over to an area near a health club,

where people have complained girls have been hanging around.

We've been tasked with coming down and sort of, like,

speaking to the girls, making sure they're OK, if anything,

and trying to persuade them as best we can

to stay away from the open businesses.

The girls we speak to,

I suppose could be looked upon as being victims themselves

as it's, sort of, widely acknowledged that a lot of the girls

down here will be down here

either through poverty or through drug addiction.

They're funding a habit and this is how they make their money.

It's not long before Olly spots someone he'd like to talk to.

This young lady will be...

..someone looking for business.

Say hello, if you want?

-Shall we wait for

-BLEEP?

Ask her what she's doing and is she all right and that.

-Have you met PC Doyle?

-No.

-No?

I mean, I know you don't want us around, necessarily, right,

but don't be afraid to speak to us if you have a problem and make

sure everyone else knows it, because we're all here to help.

The patrol moves on to check out another area.

It's this street and all around the back

where we've been having young ladies hang around.

And it's not long before they spot a familiar face

who has been warned away previously.

Hiya, love.

We told you last night don't come down this end.

I've only just come out.

I know, but you were stood there, so I was going to start moving,

but we told you last night.

Yeah, I was just looking who was down there.

And then, yet another woman they recognise comes along.

Any chance that you could just stop away from that end for us, please?

Goodo, you keeping away from the gym for us?

Brilliant, thank you.

I don't know how much they listen to us though, to be honest.

We've asked a bunch of them to move off in the past,

and you sort of go round the block and they'll return.

And then Olly is confronted by the stark reality of how desperate

some of the working girls are.

Are you pregnant?

What are you doing out here pregnant?

You want to get home in the warm and chill out for a bit

if you're pregnant. Come on.

Unbelievable, unbelievable.

Most of the girls appreciate the softly-softly approach

and take their advice to move on,

but the team also need to think about

those involved behind the scenes.

There has been intel about a chap who pulls up in a car

and I don't know if he's dropping people off,

or if they're working for him, or if he protects them.

With this in mind, Olly's suspicions are raised by a car

with a man at the wheel parked up in a dark spot.

Hiya, everything all right?

Yes, fine thanks.

All right, it's just that it's an odd area to sit around in,

-that's all.

-Yeah.

The man moves on, but the police have a long night ahead of them

mapping the troublesome call-girl hot spots, but find out later

what happens when they put their new powers and plan into action.

The teams are on call 24/7, 365 days of the year,

but they never know what their next call is going to be about.

Only that they need to respond to it fast

and find a solution to the problem.

Over at Priory Park Station in Hull,

Sergeant Mick has mustered the team to make a hit

against a suspected dealer.

-This morning, we're going to execute a warrant at

-BLEEP

-Street

-which is the home address of

-BLEEP.

-I think that's how you pronounce it.

The team are acting on a tip-off from local residents

who spotted visitors to the flat coming and going

at all hours of the night.

-The intelligence is that he's a single occupant of

-BLEEP

which is a top floor flat,

for which we have a key, fortunately.

But even with the key, getting into the flat might not be that easy.

What we'll ask is, Martina, if you can, if you can try and get us in.

The issue is around these keys apparently they are fairly new,

not particularly well-cut it would seem,

and might not open the door at the first asking.

Once they're kitted up, it's time to move off.

Stop here.

It's important that the team move quickly.

Their biggest advantage in these situations is the element of surprise.

If the suspect knows that they're coming,

there's a chance they might hide any drugs that they might have

or even flush them down the toilet.

Police!

Police, stay where you are!

Stay where you are! Police!

Stay where you are!

And it appears they may have disturbed the suspect's sleep.

-What's your name?

-BLEEP.

We're just executing a warrant under the Misuse of Drugs Act, OK?

-Do you understand that?

-Yeah.

OK.

With one set of officers searching the house,

another team turns their attentions to the man.

Do you understand English?

Yeah, my colleague is going to search you, OK?

Just stand up.

He's clean, but it's not long before the other team finds

what they've been looking for in the bedroom.

A carrier bag full of cannabis.

About £60 worth there, I would think.

And there's more in the living room,

and this time it's bagged up, ready for sale.

About 20 deals of cannabis, herbal cannabis, and about enough

to do another 15, 20 bags.

It's the evidence they need, and the team does the honours.

You're under arrest for possession with intent to supply, OK?

-Do you understand that?

-Yeah.

You do not have to say anything,

but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when questioned

something which you later rely on.

-Anything you do say may be given in evidence. Do you understand?

-Yeah.

-You understand you're under arrest?.

-Yeah.

OK. Come on, then.

Back inside, the team continue looking for any other

useful intelligence that may be in the flat.

What've you got there?

There's just dates, some dates, and monies paid.

And they're in luck.

Dealers often keep lists of contact details for customers

and suppliers which can prove vital to the police.

No more drugs are found, and with all the evidence bagged up,

it's time to head back to the station.

The man was charged with possession with intent to supply a class B drug.

Following a subsequent arrest for the same offence,

he is currently on bail awaiting trial.

Queens Garden Station is the neighbourhood team's main base

for Hull city centre, and city living brings with it the threat

of every major type of crime and incident.

Heading up the morning shift are Lorraine Summerfield

and Robert Hague.

They've just taken a call into the office

from a worried-sounding landlord, concerned about one of his tenants.

A landlord's called in to say that he's been down

to one of his properties today that's been vacated.

There was a female living at the property previously.

She's moved out,

-leaving a note saying that she's gone to live up in

-BLEEP.

He's obviously quite concerned, because nobody seems to know

where this female's actually gone, so we're just going to go down

and do some checks at the property to see if we can locate this female.

We'll go down and see what's happened.

A missing person rings alarm bells for the neighbourhood team

and they know that they may have to make many different lines of enquiry

to find out what has happened to them.

The police arrive at the house

and are greeted by the concerned landlord.

Right, just before Christmas somebody was interested in the flat,

it was up for rent.

Yeah.

It was a young girl came, we said, "Yeah, by all means."

Yeah.

We agreed to let her come in just before Christmas with regards

to just on a casual basis until Christmas,

until the new year and then we'll sign the contract.

We basically haven't heard from her since,

-so we've come round to check it out.

-Right.

The tenant appears to have left in a hurry,

and her belongings are everywhere.

But we've found all sorts of things as though she should've come back,

because there's her engagement ring by the look of it,

there's all bank details, there's all perfumes, aftershave.

Her book by the side of the bed.

I rang up this place where she said she was working

and they said she never started working there,

and they said, "I can't give you any more details."

Right. Would you say that it looked as if somebody was still living here

but they've just not come back to it?

-Just as if they've gone out to work.

-Yes, yeah.

So how long ago would you say it is, then,

that you last had any contact with her at all?

-First weekend after Christmas, wasn't it?

-First weekend after Christmas.

That was more than three weeks ago.

I did notice that after I cleared the cupboard out

and pushed the bed back.

In the bedroom, there are blood stains on the sheets

and all over the floor.

There are some down here, Rob, as well.

Robert examines the possible blood markings more closely.

It looks as if somebody's been hit, or something like that,

and they've bled a little bit on the floor there

and then somebody's made an attempt to wipe it away.

It's coming all the way out here, isn't it?

Lorraine picks up the trail.

Rob, there's some sort of a hand print in blood here

-up the bathroom wall, as well.

-Is there?

With the discovery of so much blood, Lorraine needs to make sure

any potential evidence is preserved.

Right, I think maybe what we need to do

is get everybody into the living room and I think I'm going to

have to get some supervision out to this.

Lorraine now fears there may be more than just a runaway tenant at hand

and puts a call in to her boss.

-Might be an idea if you can come out to this job on

-BLEEP

-for us.

Just got a few concerns, really.

If you can come down so we can have a chat with you.

The house is now a potential crime scene.

Find out later if there are enough clues lying around

for the police to work out what has happened to the missing woman.

Community policing was brought into play in order to develop

better relationships between local people and the police.

It's taken time to get the public on side,

but as confidence in the scheme has grown, so have the results,

with the public and the police forming an effective

crime-fighting partnership.

I think people's attitudes towards the police

have changed significantly.

I mean, when I first started in the job ten years ago,

there were certain areas that, like's been discussed before,

you used to go out in two patrol cars,

because one of the patrol cars'd get damaged

while you was in somebody's house.

Whereas I think,

especially with introducing the neighbourhood policing

and putting it out there so much to communities by doing forums

and meetings and surgeries,

the police are seen now more as approachable,

and that's with a significant help from the PCSOs

that we work with on shift.

They're out there every day, the eyes and ears of the police

and you tend that members of the public will come up and volunteer

information to them, because it's not seen as "them and us" anymore.

People do report more things to us now than what they did five,

six, seven years ago.

Whilst Steve and Gareth carry out regular beat walks

across their patch, they also find themselves performing wider patrols

across the city, always on the look-out for potential trouble.

We're going to stop-search these two, right here on our left hand side.

They've spotted two men at the side of the road

who they suspect may be swapping drugs.

We're going to stop-search you, all right?

Yeah, stop-search.

How's things? All right?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-What you doing here?

You're waiting for your girlfriend, what are you doing, chief?

OK, whose is that bag?

Is that bag yours?

Who was swapping what between it when you was both crouched down?

No, no, we were just having a look at it.

You were just having a look at it?

-We were just having a look at it, yeah.

-Oh, right.

Gareth isn't buying it.

I take it you've got receipts for all this Ariel, then?

Yeah, it's your bag.

No?

You not got any receipts for it?

It's your bag.

He's telling me it's your bag...

Oh, right.

Listen, talk to me, what's your date of birth?

-BLEEP.

-Don't talk to me, you don't have to talk to me like that.

Well, don't talk to me like that, mate.

Don't shout, don't shout.

Don't talk to me like that then, mate.

You're shouting, I'll shout at you, mate, and it is your bag, mate.

-Don't start making out it's not, that it's mine.

-It is your bag.

Whose bag is that? Has that bag got owt to do with me now?

No, no, it's not.

-Thank you very

-BLEEP

-much.

Right, so are you wanted at the minute for something?

No, I'm not wanted no, I don't get wanted.

The man giving Steve some backchat has nothing on him

and he's left to go on his way.

But things aren't as straightforward for his friend.

So you've got nothing sharp on you?

Nothing that's going to hurt me or you? OK?

And it seems they were right to be suspicious.

Oh, look, a joint of weed, yeah.

You've got a joint of weed.

In his pocket they find some cannabis,

but that's not all he's been hiding.

What's in there?

-Some tablets.

-Some tablets?

Bear with me while I finish the search.

There's some tablets in there, he's told me.

Right, what have we got there? A bit of green?

Yeah, a bit of green.

What tablets are in here kid?

Just some valium.

Some vallies?

They've found the drugs, but now there is just the small matter

of what is in the suspicious bag.

Come and take a seat in here for me, mate.

I mean, that is just full of,

it's got all the security stuff in it, see.

That'll come under suspicion as theft and possession,

and then we'll make some enquiries in relation to that,

though we'll not really be able to do anything.

Gareth goes to break the bad news.

At the moment,

you're under arrest for possession of a controlled substance,

all right, and on suspicion of theft.

You don't have to say anything

but it may harm your defence if you don't mention

something you later rely on.

The neighbourhood team are dedicated to cleaning up

the streets of the city and keeping them free from drugs and crime.

Tonight is another example of how their wealth of local knowledge

and crime-fighting instinct can achieve this.

Back at the station, the man is booked in.

In the bag there has been found several Ariel washing up detergents

with security tags attached.

Upon searching the male himself, he's got a green leafy substance

in a small clear bag and some tablets which he stated are valium.

-Have you got anything else on you?

-No.

No? Have you got any sharps on you?

Well, these officers are going to give you a more thorough search,

out of the charge room and in one of the cells, OK?

To check that there are no more drugs on him,

he's taken for a strip search.

Just kick us your shoes off first.

But nothing more is found.

He's said that he's had some drugs today.

He's topped up with heroin as well this afternoon, a £10 bag,

and he's said that he's stoned,

so that's really why he's in the state that he is.

Now Steve and Gareth can get to grips

with the suspected stolen goods.

You've heard of the Great Train Robbery,

this is the great soap powder robbery!

Retail crime costs the UK high street

an estimated £137 million a year,

and it's products like washing liquid

which are popular with opportunistic shoplifters.

As well as washing products, it's chocolate, coffee and bacon

and them sort of products which are easy to get rid of, cheeses.

They're easy to get rid of,

people are willing to take them as a bargain.

As I say, the danger is, and they should know,

if they're paying tiny prices for it, it's likely to be stolen,

and they will be prosecuted if they're caught handling it.

It's taken a bit of time,

but all the evidence has now been bagged and tagged.

The man was convicted of possessing controlled class B and C drugs.

He was given a 12 month conditional discharge and fined £85 costs.

No charges were brought against him

in relation to the suspected stolen items.

Back over in Hull city centre, Lorraine and the team

find themselves at the heart of a mystery.

Following the disappearance of a tenant,

a landlord contacted the neighbourhood team.

A trail of blood weaves its way through the flat,

which is littered with the woman's abandoned possessions.

As Lorraine waits for her governor to arrive...

..she looks around the flat for more clues.

In the kitchen, a recent calendar stuck to the cupboard door

offers some vital leads.

I've got a bad feeling about this one.

There's nothing after January.

Right, what's going to happen is our supervision's going to come down.

We can't be too careful.

The team now have a potential crime scene on their hands,

and with so many people in the flat,

there is a real risk of damaging vital evidence.

So PC Summerfield asks the landlords to wait in the van

while she conducts a thorough search of the property.

So that's what we're just doing at the moment, just trying to establish

some contact details for any family members

and see if we can just try and trace where she is,

by going through all this property.

But as they continue the search,

it becomes clear that there may be children involved.

PC Summerfield contacts Social Services

to try and gather some more information.

Yeah, I just wondered if it would be possible

for somebody to get hold of one of the members of staff

at the Child Protection team on double two, double two,

just to see if they can run any checks on this female

and her child to see if they've had any contact with them recently.

But at the moment, there aren't any signs

that the child has been living at this address.

But it's just we're trying to find out where that child is,

-because, obviously, if the child is with

-BLEEP,

then there's a concern for the child as well.

With the flat now a secure crime scene,

it's not long before the governor arrives.

Come in, and I'll tell you what we've got.

Lorraine's colleague gets him up to speed.

The last bill in there is the 18th of the 1st,

in that bag, it's all bagged up.

There's a small splatter of blood.

While she shares her concerns over the way

the property was left by the tenant.

There is a child involved in this somewhere.

We don't know where this child is.

We don't even know, we don't think the child was actually living here,

but there has been some children's clothing.

She's done a flit and when they've come in today,

this flat was as if somebody was still living here.

Rob heads off to start working his way through the address book.

-There's a mobile number

-BLEEP

-and one for

-BLEEP.

I think start phoning people who she knows.

And at the same time, Alison makes door-to-door enquiries.

It's often information from local residents that helps the local

neighbourhood team unlock tricky investigations like this.

Even if it's just seeing her coming in with some shopping or whatever,

a general sort of, just anything that we can just hopefully

put this young lady in some safety, really,

we just need to rule anything out.

After knocking on dozens of doors,

Alison finally gets some useful information.

I've been speaking to the couple upstairs.

-Not heard anything for two to three weeks.

-Right.

-Can't be a 100% sure, but two to three weeks, roughly.

-Right.

His flat is literally, his bedroom's directly above their bedroom.

All right, OK.

Never seen anybody who actually lives here.

Yeah.

But has heard them regularly, every night, arguing.

Right, OK.

Male and female voices arguing about money.

Constant, all the time, 2 o'clock in the morning,

5 o'clock in the morning and that was roughly two to three weeks

since the last time they heard all that

and after that it's just been quiet.

But they've never actually seen her or him.

-Okey dokey. Thanks for that, Alison.

-No problem.

We're just trying to find any telephone numbers

for any family at the minute.

The search for clues continues,

and it's not long before they turn up more worrying evidence.

The unpleasant discovery is followed by a more positive piece of news,

a document with some potential contact details listed on it.

It's just what they needed,

and from it they find a telephone number for the woman's mother.

-Mum has been in contact with

-BLEEP

-quite recently.

-It looks like she's actually moved to

-BLEEP

-over Christmas time,

so she's come in here for some reason just before Christmas,

two weeks prior to Christmas she took this flat on.

-She's then gone to

-BLEEP.

It looks like she actually does want to come back to Hull.

Mum's got some contact details for her mobile telephone number

which they've actually spoken to her on.

Craig is now just going to try and give her a call,

see if we can speak to her, but mum says that she does self-harm,

which would explain the blood.

Which, although that's not nice, it's a good outcome really.

It's a sad situation, but the team are also relieved to learn

that the woman's children are safe and well

in the custody of her mother.

It's another mystery cleared up by the neighbourhood team

in their bid to respond to the concerns of residents.

One of the roles of a neighbourhood police officer is to keep an eye out

for the most vulnerable members of the community.

In order to do this, they carry out regular check-ups

and reassurance visits on those who benefit greatly

from a little extra care and attention.

The neighbourhood team invest a lot of their time

in making sure the most vulnerable members of the community

get the care and support they need to feel safe where they live.

And this includes making sure people who are being bullied

don't feel they have nowhere to turn.

Bullying, I mean, it can take many forms

and there's many definitions of bullying.

It can be something from name-calling which gets out of hand,

it can then escalate to physical or it can be cyber-bullying.

We deal with all different kinds of bullying

and each case presents its own unique instance of bullying.

More than 70% of people living in the UK

say they've been bullied at some stage.

It's a problem that can affect people of all ages,

at home, school or work.

Very often, if someone's being bullied for quite a while,

they present with low self esteem, little self-worth

and we have to help build that up again,

give them confidence, help them to develop their confidence.

We work together collaboratively.

That's more about promoting the services,

making sure that people are aware, along with other agencies,

so community events as well.

We become involved to make sure people can see

that it isn't just about coming to us

or coming to someone else. That we all want to work together.

Partnership working is very important.

Tonight, Olly is on his way to check up on an elderly man

the team have been looking out for, as reports have come in

that he's being mistreated again by so-called friends.

We're hoping that he'll be in,

we haven't seen him for the last few days.

He's a vulnerable adult. Unfortunately, he's alcoholic,

alcohol-dependant, and he's been having people take advantage of him.

Staying in his place, they've kicked him out in the past of his bedroom,

so he had to sleep in the living room.

We're hoping that isn't the case now, although the intel we've been

receiving states that the previous offenders are back at his address,

although we haven't caught them there yet,

so we're hoping to do as many checks as we can,

and if we find the gentlemen in the address,

they will be getting arrested.

The team split into two, covering the front and back

of the man's house to ensure the bully doesn't try and escape,

should he be in.

KNOCK AT DOOR

Hello. How you doing, mate?

Someone Olly doesn't recognise opens the door,

but he invites him inside where he finds the vulnerable man

watching TV quite happily in the living room.

-Hiya,

-BLEEP.

-Where've you been?

All right, Olly!

The other man appears to be a genuine friend,

and looks to put Olly's mind at rest

when asked have any of the bullies been around.

Has anybody been round here? Has anybody been round here?

No, no.

The vulnerable man has a serious alcohol problem,

but Olly does his best to have a friendly chat with him.

You what? Has he been in?

Seeing that the man is OK and happy watching TV,

the police do a quick sweep of the property to ensure the bully isn't

hiding somewhere, and puts up with some high-spirited horse-play

from the man's friend.

-I'll come and get you in a bear hug!

-All right, get off me

-BLEEP!

I'll have to go shower now.

Olly acts in good spirits,

and, satisfied that the vulnerable man is no longer in danger,

the police say their goodbyes.

-Has

-BLEEP

-been round yours?

-No, no.

-No?

But not before the man has a playful knock at his friend.

Every time you turn up, the police turn up.

That's OK, isn't it?

Come on, no arguing now, no arguing.

-He's all right.

-I know.

As Olly leaves the house and makes his way back to the car,

he reflects on how the police can help best support people

in this situation.

I think we sympathise with him.

I'm not aware of any family that he's got and although he's got,

I wouldn't say friends,

acquaintances that come and visit him every day,

he's definitely had advantage taken of him in the past,

and we just don't want a repeat of it.

But it used to be the same with the gentleman

that used to live in this flat.

Some days we'd arrive and he'd be our best friend,

then you could arrive the day after

and he might have had a bit more to drink than normal.

But they're really nice guys, to be honest.

For the next few weeks, the team will continue to stop by

every night to ensure the man remains safe in his own home.

Further visits to the property have ensured

that the bully has stayed away, and the vulnerable man

has enjoyed some peace and security where he lives.

A recent beat meeting saw residents complain to neighbourhood teams

about the rise in prostitution where they live.

So after locating all the call-girl hot spots in the area,

the police are devising a plan

to keep working girls off the streets.

The team have some new policing powers at hand

and have produced a map that highlights a zero-tolerance zone

around areas identified as being a problem.

Let's go and get in the van and let's get it done.

No-nonsense copper Steve Lamb is leading the initiative

and looking to give the street girls their marching orders.

As they head to their first area on the map,

Steve describes how the new Section 27 police powers

can help deal with the problem.

It gives a police officer the power to give a direction to an individual

to leave an area for a specific period of time, i.e. up to 48 hours,

and we'll use the full 48 hours if we issue any.

So it's a good little piece of legislation,

we'll use it where we can, and we'll see how it pans out.

They reach the first area outlined on the map,

and Alan immediately gets a chance to put the new powers into play.

-Come off the road. What are you up to tonight down here,

-BEEP?

I'm waiting for my mate.

What are you waiting for your mate for?

You watch. She'll be out here any second.

You can't do that!

It may sound like a valid excuse, but Alan isn't buying it,

and he issues her one of the new telling-off tickets.

You are now banned from a period of 48 hours from tonight from coming

into an area bordered by Anlaby Road,

the A63 up to the Boulevard and down Ferensway.

So you're telling me I can't go and see my mate?

So you're telling me I can't go see my mate?

For 48 hours.

You're telling me I can't go see my mate?

I'm telling you, I'm not asking you.

No, I know, I'm saying you're telling me I can't go and see my mate?

-Yes, if you want to see that with a solicitor, that's all right.

-I will do.

If you return within 48 hours or refuse to go, you will be arrested.

You can do what you want, though, you can do what you want.

With the woman sent on her way,

the team head to their next destination on the map.

We don't give the notices out lightly.

We do make sure we've got grounds for giving the notices out.

Basically if it was a member of the public, a female,

walking down there doing her shopping

or clearly waiting for friends, she wouldn't be given that notice.

We do carry out checks and we do use previous knowledge

and our knowledge of prostitutes before we give them notices out.

The police seem to encounter a woman working the streets at every corner

that they turn and they all have elaborate excuses,

but get a ticket nonetheless.

-Hello there, chuck.

-All right?

Hiya, what are you doing over here? Seen you a couple of times.

-I'm waiting for a lift.

-Who from?

-My friend.

-Your friend?

-Yeah.

It's a thankless task, and many of the girls

aren't willing to take their advice.

Get out my face!

Why was you meeting your friend right at the back?

Why don't you meet him on Hessle Road?

I didn't meet my friend right at the back of the Hessle Road.

Well, where were you when you got stopped?

He picked me up because he was going to take me home.

I know him from the carpet shop, I bought carpets off him.

So why didn't he take you home?

Because I was talking to him for two seconds and then coppers pull me

and they assumed I was a prostitute.

But issuing the orders is not just about moving the girls on.

Providing better reassurance to these communities who

are constantly calling us and saying they're fed up with prostitutes

congregating outside their front doors, so that's the ultimate aim,

but it is to engage with working girls

if they want to engage with us.

Gather any intelligence that we can, but there was an opportunity

to use the legislation to remove them and we will do.

-OK, get yourself home.

-What's your number?

Which way are you going? Which way are you going?

-What's your number?

-934.

-619.

934, you got that Rob? Get a pen.

The team must do their best to use a bit of gentle humour

to diffuse a fraught situation.

But it doesn't mean that they will show any let up

in making anyone aware of the new initiative.

Working girls are going to get stopped

-every night this week,

-BLEEP.

I'm not at work!

-Pestering you every night.

-I don't work!

-Yes, you do.

-No, I don't! Don't tell me, I don't work!

-OK.

-Right.

-Take care, then.

-Take care.

There are an estimated 80,000 prostitutes working across the UK

and many of these women are battling serious drug and alcohol addictions.

In many cases, they work to fund their expensive habits.

Steve spots a girl he thinks he recognises and approaches her.

What are you doing out here at this time of night?

I've just told you I'm off to go get some chips. Is that all right, like?

Well, it might be. What chip shop are you going to?

Well, the one that's right there that's open.

All right, listen.

First things first, drop the attitude and then me

and you will get on all right, OK?

You want to give me some attitude, we'll be here as long as you like.

If I check you now,

are you going to have any previous for being a street girl?

-No.

-None at all?

-No.

-Definitely not?

-No.

-OK, let's do a quick check then.

She's a female, white, local.

But it turns out the girl isn't being entirely truthful.

I asked you if you've got any links to being a sex trade worker,

you said no.

Funnily enough, you're recorded in our systems as being just that.

I've been stopped and questioned but...

You've been stopped and questioned,

so you've never been a commercial sex worker?

No, I've been stopped and questioned like you just did now.

If I was a betting man,

I would say that's exactly what you're doing out here tonight.

Now we can agree to disagree all you like,

but let's just be a little bit honest with each other.

That's what you're doing out here tonight, isn't it?

Please.

Don't insult my intelligence, please.

That's exactly what you are doing tonight, isn't it?

Thank you.

Got there in the end. Right, so what you doing now, then?

-You going to go home now?

-Get my chips.

Get your chips and then you're going to go home, yeah?

Because you're not staying out here anymore tonight. OK?

For some of these women the streets are the last place they want to be,

but expensive drug and alcohol addictions can leave them feeling

like they have no other option.

What are you getting upset for? What are you upset about?

Are you using drugs? Yeah?

What are you using?

Heroin.

A bit of brown?

Brown is a street slang for heroin.

Any white? No? OK.

How much brown are you using?

I don't know, two a day, I'm trying to get on a course.

Steve decides to offer this girl some help and advice.

Have you heard of an agency called The Women's Project

on George Street?

-Would you be interested in engaging with anybody like that?

-Yeah.

There is help available for those who want it,

but taking the first step can be the hardest.

Well, what I'll do, I promise I'll put your details,

I'll make a referral for you to the Women's Project

and get somebody to contact you. All right?

Yeah.

Escaping a life of prostitution and drug abuse

can be the difference between life and death.

One ex-street worker knows all too well

the perils those girls out on the street face every day.

I was a heroin addict, I used to spend £300 a day and now obviously,

you don't even need to spend £3 a day once you're not using.

Get clean, it's worth it.

And that's all I can say. It's so worth getting clean, you have so much of a better life.

And the results of the new approach to tackling the problem

are already quickly becoming apparent to the neighbourhood team.

I personally think it's been a real success,

because of all the girls that we've issued Section 27s to this week,

neither of them have appeared in the areas that we've banned them

from for the 48 hours, so that's got to be a success.

I think the fact that they haven't come back,

that's been born out today that Al visited one of the girls

in a local hostel for another reason and it was evident that

she was in her room at a time where, every day, normally,

she would be out working the streets and she said that

she's realised that the notice meant that if she contravened it,

she was going to get arrested, so that's definitely worked.

Since the initiative started,

the number of street workers has dropped by almost a third.

Neighbourhood policing brings the teams in close contact

with every imaginable type of crime and social problem.

They're there to make the public feel safer and secure

in the knowledge that their concerns will be taken seriously.

Join us next time to find out

if they can continue to make crime rates fall.

Coming up next time - the police try to track down a wanted man.

-I haven't seen him for days, me.

-Have you not?

The team try to bring calm to the streets...

Sort her out, her attitude stinks!

..on a raucous Friday night in Hull.

And a cat burglar gets caught in the act.

They've looked at the CCTV, it shows one male.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd