Episode 4 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...

-Evening all!

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

-Brilliant!

-Working together to sweep crime off our streets.

Police! Search warrant!

Coming up - the police struggle to contain a man after a terrible

reaction to legal highs.

It's just not normal. It's not normal.

PCSOs try to keep hold of a suspect in Bath.

I'm asking you to wait here until you're searched, mate.

And the neighbourhood team blitz Bridgwater in a crackdown on crime.

Don't walk off, mate. Don't walk off.

Somerset is famed for its rolling hills, beautiful villages

and the World Heritage Site of Bath.

But, although it may look idyllic, neighbourhood teams here have to

deal with many of the same problems faced by officers in the inner-city.

Legal highs are new chemicals mimicking illegal drugs,

which are increasingly marketed and sold to young people.

But the effects are devastating.

And it's often the police who are left to pick up the pieces

when things go wrong.

Britain's been dubbed the legal high capital of Europe.

And new legislation is going through Parliament to outlaw them.

It's the police. Up you get.

These new chemicals can have much stronger

and more unpredictable effects than illegal drugs.

What are you doing?

Users risk addiction, heart failure and even death.

In Bridgwater police station, Inspector Adam Knee's concerned

about a man who's reacting badly to a substance he took 12 hours ago.

This is how he's been since he was arrested.

Since that point, he hasn't come down at all.

He's still, um...agitated, um...as you can hear,

shouting nonsensical phrases.

The team observe the man on CCTV.

The black square hides his toilet.

SHOUTING

After he had taken the drug,

he attacked someone at a homeless shelter.

Officers arrested the man, who was so disturbed

they carried him into the cells.

Checking up on him, the team protected themselves with shields,

but the man attacked them...

..and bit an officer on the leg.

SHOUTING

After such a long time, the effects of the drug should be

wearing off, but this man's getting more and more agitated.

We know that he's on a substance

because he said that he's taken this legal high called Sparkle.

Sparkle can cause hallucinations and paranoia.

And some users have nearly died after taking it.

Do you recognise me?

Are you happy?

Try and communicate with me a second.

He is known to officers in Taunton

and he's previously suffered from a delirium as a result of drug use.

In particular, legal highs.

SHOUTING

Are we going to have a sensible conversation,

or are we going to start that again?

The team have dealt with the man before,

so they know he's not normally like this.

Custody nurse, Kerry Manley, is worried about his paranoid

and aggressive behaviour.

It's unusual for something 12 hours later to still be quite

so highly, um...aroused and violent. It's just not normal.

It's not normal.

And I've spoken to the A&E consultant

and he wants to have him back, possibly to do a brain scan.

The man urgently needs medical treatment,

but he's aggressive and unstable,

so getting him to hospital is going to be extremely dangerous.

Specially-trained officers pull on full protective gear

and the team gather for a briefing.

It's been an ongoing incident

since the start of the shift for all of us this morning.

He's alleged to have taken some legal highs,

namely Sparkle, at 0100 hours this morning.

He's extremely, extremely violent.

We feared that he was having a fit.

He scrambled underneath shields, um...attacked officers

and bit me on the leg.

So because the effects of the legal high haven't diminished

in any way, shape or form, there is a concern for him.

He has got previous history of taking legal highs

and he is of a significant risk.

Not only to himself, but to others.

Use of Taser is available,

however, he has a high heart rate.

It is not the preferred option.

It is the last option.

Thanks very much.

-We'll hang out the back and then you can see what he's like.

-Yeah, sure.

Are you happy with that?

With paramedics standing by, the team head to the cells,

where the shouting is as loud as ever.

SHOUTING

The cell is soaking wet.

-OK.

-SHOUTING

OK. Officers will be coming in with shields.

I'm asking you to go and stand in the corner on the back,

where I'm pointing.

With your face facing the wall.

Go and stand in the corner.

Scott's hoping the man will hear his instructions

through his drug-induced haze.

Keep listening to my voice and keep looking that way.

As the police support unit enter the cell,

the man actually does as he's told.

Put your arms out...out from the side of you, please.

The team manage to restrain the man.

Now, you can either try and walk, or we're going to carry you.

What would you like to do?

So we're going to take you to the hospital.

But it doesn't take long

before he starts trying to fight officers again.

-OK, he's kicking...

-We're going to carry him straight from here.

-BLEEP

-not! I knew he was a

-BLEEP!

The team carry him out to a waiting van.

-Whatever

-BLEEP!

Whoa! I'll see you up in heaven, because that's where I'm going.

And I love you, Mummy!

HE SINGS

ALARM WAILS

He's safe, we're safe, he's off to hospital.

BLEEP!

Sergeant Andy Gloyn is part of the team taking the man to hospital.

I've personally dealt with this gentleman

when he's not been under the influence of legal highs

and to say this is a completely different character is true.

Finally, they arrive at hospital.

Thanks to the team's professionalism,

the man's going to get the treatment he so desperately needs.

Ha-ha! You missed it!

-You missed the concrete, you

-BLEEP

-idiot!

Ha-ha!

After assessment, the man was heavily sedated for 48 hours.

Another casualty of the deadly trade in untested

and dangerous legal highs.

Every weekend, towns across the country

are affected by people binge drinking...

Do you want to get out of the way a minute, mate, please?

..taking drugs and behaving badly.

Move away from the door!

In Bridgwater, the police have decided to blitz the town centre

in a crackdown on drug taking and disorderly behaviour.

Tonight, 22 officers will be out on patrol, backed up by drugs dogs.

Time to hit the streets.

Oh, OK. You all right?

Yeah, I'm all right.

You look like you've had quite a lot to drink.

Yeah, but I'm OK. I'm going back to me flat.

OK. Close by?

Yeah.

All right. I was slightly worried you were about to get run over.

Steve Duffy and drugs dog, Patch, get to work in the centre of town.

And it's not long before the dog picks up a scent.

Have you smoked cannabis in the past?

When was the last time you had anything?

-Right.

-You said it was in your bag last night?

-It was just in the front pocket.

-OK.

-There is a frying pan in my bag.

-It's not, like...

-A frying pan?

-It's not like a weapon or anything.

-OK.

My mum gave it to me.

The dog may well indicate just because of residue scent.

He was right about the frying pan.

The search draws a blank.

But before they can pack everything away,

someone down the road spots the dog and makes a run for it.

One second, guys.

All it is is just a screening dog.

He's just going to have a little sniff.

I'll search him, anyway.

Keep your hands where we can see you, please. Thanks ever so much.

The man's suspicious behaviour means he's also going to be searched.

I'm...I'm kind of nervous now.

-Why you nervous?

-Yeah, yeah, of course.

-Why?

-Um...

-Have you got anything to be nervous about?

Yeah, a massive bag of coke in my back pocket.

OK, well, we'll find that.

I'm only joking, I'm only joking!

It's not helping your cause, is it, mate?

-I'm sorry, sir. I-I...

-Stop talking. Keep that hand there.

-Where do you want my hands?!

-Put them like that, put them like that.

What's your name, please?

The man's getting increasingly irritated by the search.

You have no right to do this.

-Yes, we do.

-No, you don't!

Section 32 of the Misuse of Drugs Act.

You're not... Yeah, but what...?

You saw the drugs dog, you turned away, all right?

That gave us the grounds.

The object is to see if you have anything on you.

-Obviously, a controlled substance.

-My brother, he's much...

The man's brother may be a policeman,

but he's not the first person he calls in a crisis.

-'Hello?'

-Mum?

-Why do you need to speak to your mum?

-Mum?

Um...the police have stopped me.

-'Why?!'

-Because apparent...

-Is that your mum? Shall I talk to your mum?

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

As the search didn't reveal anything, the man was allowed to go on his way.

I think he'll phone you later.

There's nothing to be concerned about.

Meanwhile, Patch's sensitive nose has detected something else.

What I'm going to do, mate, I'm going to cuff you, all right?

After having to catch one man, this time,

officers aren't taking any chances.

I can smell it from here. I don't need a dog to smell it.

-One spliff?

-The dog's all over it.

I know, I can smell it from here.

-Is it...?

-You've got a bit in your pocket? OK.

-What we need to do...

-We'll still go back to the station.

He's got a little bit of cannabis on him at the moment,

but obviously, that does entitle us to do a full search

back at the station and that's what they're going to do right now.

Back at the station, no more drugs were found,

so the man was given a cannabis warning, meaning

his details will be kept for ever on the force's computer system.

A few hours later, the team start mopping up the night's casualties.

We've got one gentleman over here who, um...

unfortunately looks like he's had a little bit too much to drink.

He's got his mate with him to take him home, so that's OK.

I've been working out lately, you know.

-Don't wiggle your

-BLEEP

-when I'm checking your pockets.

-James, stop it!

-I'm sorry.

In some areas, up to 40% of all police calls in the evenings

and night are alcohol related.

As the bars empty out, Colette Ranson's alerted to another

partygoer half collapsed in the street.

Hello?

Hello?

Hello?

-It's the police.

-Yeah?

-It's the police.

-You all right?

-No.

Are you going to stand up for me, are you? Whoop!

BLEEP.

-No, I can't get up.

-You a friend? Yeah? All right. OK.

The team searched the man's friend earlier.

Luckily, he's a lot more sober than his mate.

No, that's a bit silly, innit, eh? Yeah?

Just stay stood up for a bit, all right,

and just get your head together.

As the man's in such a state,

the team get paramedics to check him over.

-What's happened, then, buddy?

-Er...I got dared to drink too much.

-Yeah?

Yeah. We'll just put it as that.

Four highly-trained emergency personnel attend the scene.

All there because of these boys' drinking games.

How are you planning to get home?

-Or how were you planning to get home tonight?

-Cycling.

-Cycling?

-Right, that's probably not going to be a good idea, is it?

-No, it ain't.

The man's barely able to stand, let alone cycle.

So Colette calls his parents.

-Oh, she's going to kill me!

-Before popping him in a cab home.

-Hello.

-Good morning, chaps.

-Dad is going to pay the fare when he gets home.

The man's wasted over half an hour of the police and paramedics' time.

All because of a stupid dare.

2:30 in the morning and, as the last stragglers are making their way home,

Jim Murray notices a distinctive smell of cannabis.

Don't walk off, mate. Don't walk off.

This man was openly smoking drugs on the street.

You've got no ID on you,

so I'm trying to establish your name and address.

As well as searching him, officers need to establish

the man's identity to see if he's got a criminal record.

Have you got some ID inside? As long as I can come with you.

-I've got my wallet.

-If you've got your driving licence,

we'll go inside and find it, shall we?

It turns out the man is right outside his B&B,

so he takes Jim in with him to grab his driving licence.

Unfortunately for him, that's not the first thing Jim spots.

I've gone upstairs to his room

to try and establish his name and address.

As I walked in the door, that was sat on the side quite blatantly.

I believe it to be cannabis. So I've seized that, as well.

The man hasn't been in trouble with the police before,

so Jim gives him a cannabis warning and sends him on his way.

All in all, it's been a successful night for the Bridgwater team.

There's been no real trouble

and they've left the pub-goers under no illusions that drug use

and antisocial behaviour won't be tolerated in the town centre.

One of the most critical aspects of neighbourhood policing is

building trust and forming strong relationships with the community.

When the public trust the police enough to pass over intelligence,

the results can be impressive.

As Dom is all too aware.

Community policing is where we build up that rapport that we've lost.

Take the time to speak with the community and that's when

you can gain their trust and that's when they start talking to us,

passing information.

Dom Bryant has been in the police for 15 years.

His team have been passed information alleging that a rented property

has been converted into a fully-functioning cannabis factory.

It's not very often that we get a tip-off

about an actual cannabis factory.

There's no time like the present to act upon it straightaway,

which is what we're going to do.

But an anonymous tip-off isn't enough to justify a search warrant.

For Dom to investigate, he'll need to talk his way in.

Here's the address here.

We've got blinds down.

So what we do, we just park here and knock the door.

94% of cannabis farms are found in domestic houses.

I can't actually smell anything, which doesn't mean anything

these days because the carbon filters they use are fantastic.

Could try the postman's knock, rat-a-tat-tat. That always works.

But this time, the postman's knock doesn't get an answer.

Dom checks around the back and spots somebody.

All right, hang on. Movement.

Stand by.

I can see a chap waving at me.

If Dom can talk his way in,

he'll be able to see what's going on without having to get a warrant.

Hello, it's the police.

I need to come and speak to you, please.

Well, I don't want to stand out here with people listening.

Can you take the chain off and let me come in?

I don't need a warrant. I'd just like to speak to you, please.

It's something personal.

No. I'm a police officer,

I'm not going to cause you any harm or anything like that.

Well, I'm not going to speak to you like that.

Dom's determined not to be put off by the man's stalling.

Not with the chain on. No, I can't come back another time.

I'm very, very busy. I need to speak to the occupants of this address.

OK, I'll wait here, then.

I need to speak to them, OK? I'll wait here.

The man's claiming he doesn't live at the address.

But his determination not to let him in

has made Dom all the more suspicious.

He's obviously very nervous of the police, not letting me in.

Um...once we're inside, that's a different story.

That's the plan, but...

Dom now has to wait for the person who does live at the house

to answer the door.

-Hello. Was that a friend of yours?

-That's my boyfriend.

-He's going to work in a minute.

-OK.

-He doesn't live here.

I need to come in and speak to you about something sensitive.

-I'll come in, all right?

-OK.

-All right? Thank you very much.

Having finally talked his way in, Dom gets straight to the point.

I'm going to be straight with you two

and I need you to be straight with me.

The suggestion is, I don't know where it's come from,

that there's cannabis being grown at this address.

So I'm here now for you to both show me around the address.

Already, I can smell cannabis. This room here, please.

Have you got keys?

From behind a locked door,

Dom detects the distinctive smell of cannabis plants.

I'd rather you open it, rather than me smash the door in.

I need you to be straight with me.

If you've got keys, open them up.

I've got reasonable grounds to suspect class B drugs

are being cultivated in this address.

All right? So you have got a key.

Inside the house, Dom's intelligence has led him

to a fully-operational cannabis grow.

We've got two tents here.

Very, very professional set-up, this.

In here, you've got your sodium heat lamp on.

You've got your seeds. That's your very early seeds.

When I came into the property, there was a faint smell

coming from the more mature plants.

I could hear machines running and the doors were locked.

By then, it was too late. I'm in the house.

I would have arrested them and forced entry.

Kicked these doors in.

But miraculously, amazingly, a key turned up and opened them up.

And here we are.

Backup starts arriving on the scene to control the occupants

and help Dom preserve evidence.

A second room in the house has even more plants growing.

I want to get everything secure and seized and take it from there.

-OK.

-Just want to see how many plants we've got here.

They're good female plants here. Mature.

Not far off being harvested.

I would say about 15-20 plants in this tent.

One six-foot plant is roughly about £1,000.

And these plants are probably four foot in height.

Today's haul is worth around £40,000,

taking a significant amount of drugs off Britain's streets.

I think a week later...these plants would have been cropped

and then disposed of. They would've just been rubbish and worthless.

So we've struck at the right time.

Everything's carefully bagged up.

The force's specialist cannabis unit arrive to take over.

Last year, 17,000 plants were seized

across Somerset by Operation Viscount,

with an estimated street value of £14 million.

This would take me hours to dismantle

and they've come along with a van, they're experts at it,

they do it all the time

and they know exactly what the courts need and what I need.

It's fantastic. It saves a lot of time.

-That's 150.

-150.

Everything not taken as evidence is destroyed.

What's the chance of them using it again?

Not much, really, to be honest.

Because I will destroy this. This one's still up now,

I will slice the tent up, break a lot of the poles off

and basically just dismantle everything into one.

After seizing all the evidence,

Dom deals with the woman who lives at the house.

I'm arresting you on suspicion of production

of a controlled drug of class B.

We're going to go to Bridgwater police station,

photograph taken, DNA, fingerprints.

Intelligence, on this occasion, was spot-on.

I was told by a source unknown there were tents.

And that's exactly what it was. Exactly what I found.

I didn't think the set-up would be quite so professional,

but it was an extremely good job and it was a good source,

a good tip-off for the police.

Job done.

The lady pleaded guilty to possession

and production of cannabis at court and is waiting to be sentenced.

Still to come on Neighbourhood Blues...

-Officers discover a shocking weapon during a raid.

-Ooh, dear!

And PCSOs deal with a suspect who's refusing to cooperate.

I've taken my clothes off, yeah?

You don't need to take your clothes off, mate.

In tightly-packed housing estates,

it doesn't take long for one person's antisocial behaviour

to have a serious impact on the whole community.

You've got mouths on you, you're always gobbing off.

Yeah, we gob off to you.

In Weston-super-Mare, neighbourhood teams are working hard

to improve life on the Bournville estate.

Cracking down on problem tenants.

I'm at court in June with Curo Housing, who own the property.

We've been trying to get these lot out of the address for a long time.

The team are planning a raid on residents

facing eviction for their antisocial behaviour.

We've located drugs at the address before,

so I'm really hoping that we find some. It doesn't matter how much.

Anything, really, um...that would...

that I could then add on

to the court proceedings to try and get them out.

Antisocial behaviour accounts for nearly half of all incidents

the police have to deal with on the estate.

The address itself has been a little bit of a hotspot

for the buying and selling of cannabis.

Um...and antisocial behaviour.

It's caused us a number of issues.

A number of calls coming through from residents unhappy

at what's going on in the location.

So today is to show that we're not messing about.

Rapid entry is critical to catch the residents by surprise.

But amazingly, the door is open.

-SHOUTING

-Go! Go! Go!

So the team rush straight in.

-Police!

-Ground floor's clear!

One on the middle floor!

-There's one on the middle!

-One at the top!

The speedy entry means officers catch their targets still in bed.

-Drugs warrant. You can stay there...

-There ain't no drugs in here.

-You can stay there for the minute, all right?

-All right.

-Don't move!

What I'm going to do, if we just get one of these sofas searched,

and then we'll get him downstairs, OK?

When they're happy the sofa doesn't hold any nasty surprises,

the team move the man so they can start the search,

but he's extremely unhappy about the situation.

-Stop dragging me around.

-Walk and sit down.

-Yeah, I will walk down.

-Go on, then.

-Don't keep

-BLEEP.

-Why...why do I need to be cuffed?

-BLEEP.

-Just relax. You're going to have some handcuffs on you.

-BLEEP, BLEEP.

-What are you doing? Relax!

-Why do I need to be cuffed?

-Look at you.

-Because you're doing this.

-You're kicking off.

All right, just relax.

-You're actually taking the

-BLEEP

-out of me, aren't you?

-We're not taking the

-BLEEP.

-Look.

-Just sit down and relax.

-Loosen that. I'm in the house.

-We'll loosen them up in a minute.

-What are you doing?

-Look, you boys are

-BLEEP

-me off.

-I'll knock you out.

-Do you think, do you?

You're not knocking anybody out. Just relax and sit there.

We don't need all this, do we? It's not helping, is it? Just relax.

The police start searching in the young man's bedroom.

There's some drugs paraphernalia on the table, cannabis grinders.

There's lots of silver foil about

which is used for drugs wraps and things like that.

That box which smells of cannabis was tucked in underneath there.

In such a tight neighbourhood, word has spread quickly about the raid.

Straight on Facebook, "Cops have raided," blah, blah, blah. That's what we're up against.

We rely heavily on the community

and generally the people around here are great.

Unfortunately, sometimes we are one step behind.

To inform the community about the raid, PCSO Kylie Stevens

goes door to door on the estate,

giving residents information about the operation.

-That's just to let you know why we're there.

-As if I didn't know!

And encouraging them to report any problems.

If there's any information you want to give us,

all our contact details are on there.

-All right?

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you. Bye.

I've seen some of the kids grow up

and have known the faces for quite some time.

A few faces have turned up and, as the day gets later,

I'm sure there will be a few more that will come to the address

and go once they see the vans.

One of Colin's officers taking photos for evidence

updates him on what she's found.

We've got loads of Rizlas, lighters, five mobiles,

a wad of cash and, yeah, so just general paraphernalia.

The officers also made a shocking discovery.

A serrated hunting knife in a holster.

We've got a very interesting looking weapon

which has got an interesting serrated edge.

-Oh, dear.

-Yeah.

-That's not nice.

-And that was found in that holder.

With their search complete, Colin calls the residents in for a chat.

We've taken some photographs, all right? Of drug paraphernalia.

A grinder in your room.

Your tenancy, all right, you should not be smoking drugs, you should not

have drugs on the premises, so it's relevant to the civil eviction case.

The evidence they've found will help the police build the case

to get the tenants evicted.

We didn't find any specific drugs, et cetera.

A lot of photographs of drugs paraphernalia

which will go forward to the civil proceedings

in terms of the eviction.

Erm...and some weapons.

We found some pretty, erm...

pretty nasty knives in there.

So, if nothing, we've taken those knives out of circulation.

Faced with overwhelming evidence of antisocial behaviour,

the tenants were evicted from the house,

making life easier for all the other residents of the estate.

Antisocial behaviour can take many forms.

Whether it's shoplifters stealing from local businesses

or people being drunk and disorderly in the street.

This kind of behaviour affects the quality of life

in communities everywhere.

I've got a good question for you.

Whoa, whoa! Don't get all aggressive.

In Bath, neighbourhood teams work closely with city marshals

and security staff to help them respond quickly to any incidents.

Let's have that a minute. Oi!

Now go away.

A special radio system links them all together,

meaning when there's a problem

officers can be on the scene in minutes.

PCSO Howie Wilton's just received a call about a suspected shoplifter

who's run towards the river after stealing a speaker.

We do have some footage of them on CCTV and they are monitoring.

Security staff point out the suspect.

Howie knows all the familiar faces on his beat.

All right, James?

'James is one of our nominal street drinkers

'who likes to draw attention to himself all the time.'

Street drinkers can cause a lot of problems for the police,

who have to deal with their antisocial behaviour.

Ahead, Howie spots his man.

Was he the guy with the black jacket, the blue jeans,

white trainers and fur-lined hood on?

Right, negative.

-WHISTLES

-Come here, you!

You match the description of a guy that's just been passed to us

reference a theft of a speaker from Waitrose.

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

-No, I got nothing.

PCSOs can't search people for stolen goods

so Howie calls in backup from the neighbourhood team.

I'm in company with the male now that's been described to us

from the city marshals.

He's going to need to be searched, unfortunately.

-I haven't got nothing.

-He's stating he's got nothing on him.

The man matches the description of the shoplifter perfectly

and he's wearing the same distinctive jacket caught earlier on camera.

What's your full name, mate?

But, before Howie can get started, the street drinker he passed earlier

turns up in a disruptive mood.

James, we're a bit busy, mate, at the moment so you need to

-go and stand over there so I can speak to this gentleman.

-Why?

-Jay, I just found this jacket on the bench.

-Sorry...

-Happy days!

Mark... James!

Sorry, mate, I need to deal with him and you're not making things

any easier at the moment. Just go and stand over there.

With the men getting rowdier, Howie has to do his best

to contain the situation and keep an eye on the suspect

until officers can get to the scene.

I'm asking you to wait here until you're searched.

If you haven't done anything wrong, you've got nothing to worry about.

-I'll search him for you, all right?

-No, just go away.

I'll search him because I've been with this guy all afternoon.

I found this jacket on the bench.

Mark, I've told you, it's nothing to do with the coat.

He has got jack all on him.

The man may claim he has just found this jacket

but he's an exact match for the shoplifter.

-I haven't done nothing wrong.

-That's fine. We'll just follow you.

As the men move off, Howie follows to keep the suspect in sight.

-Look, Mark, if it hadn't been for

-BLEEP

-you would've waited with us,

we would've got you searched and you could've walked away.

He's trying to influence you. I can't search you, I don't want to.

-That's a load of rubbish, that is.

-Go away.

-Did you hear that?

-I'll take my clothes off.

-You don't need to take your clothes off, mate.

In a desperate bid to prove his innocence,

the man starts doing his own strip search.

Keep them on, otherwise you'll get done... Put it on!

Finally, two neighbourhood police officers arrive

to give Howie the backup he needs.

A gentleman matching his description, white trainers,

blue jeans, dark jacket, which he hasn't got on at the moment,

was responsible for the theft of a...

-As soon as I can find out...

-He just pulled me up.

-Are you the original informant for the theft?

-Yeah.

-Which one...?

-It's him. The other one.

-You've got CCTV for that?

-The CCTV, yeah.

-Right, OK.

As the suspect has been caught on camera

and identified by security staff,

officers arrested the man on suspicion of theft.

The security guard came from the store, he's identified the male

as being responsible for the theft so he's now been arrested for it.

Back at the station and confronted by overwhelming evidence,

the man admitted stealing a speaker.

He was given an official police caution

and if he's caught shoplifting again, he will almost certainly be charged.

Britain's countryside is famed for its peaceful fields

and beautiful villages.

But driving in the country is deceptively dangerous.

More accidents happen on rural roads than on motorways,

with around three people killed every day.

Outside Bridgwater, neighbourhood teams have been working

with residents fed up with drivers speeding through the village.

PCSO Helen Whitehead checks up on the volunteers

who take details of speeding cars.

Hello. Nice to see you all.

Repeat offenders are tracked down by the police

and can face further action.

You speak to the family of someone who has lost a loved one

in a car accident,

they will tell you they want their police doing traffic controls.

Basically, it's the speed of the traffic through the village.

This corner is dreadful.

Speeding through little villages ruins people's quality of life

and can be very dangerous.

The idea is that we're trying to stop people getting killed

in the village because of the speed.

This corner, they actually ride across the middle of it.

They don't stay one side of the road - lorries in particular.

So that's basically why we do it.

36 miles away in Bath,

the police are also stepping up their fight against speeding drivers.

Neighbourhood teams are training to use the latest hi-tech kit...

This is the ultralight 2020 device...

.. preparing for a blitz on drivers who blatantly break the speed limit.

It comes out of here, locks on to something

then shoots back into this one and it calculates the speed.

Time to test the new kit on the streets.

If you press the button on the right-hand side, that's your speed.

-There's a 30mph speed limit up there.

-Yeah.

If you had to ping off that,

it will say it's about 89 metres away or something.

Sergeant Will Stevens explains the operation to the public.

The more people have got the training,

the more we can cascade it out.

Then we can start dealing with people

for stuff that they do wrong.

With everyone trained up,

Will's team head over to Lansdowne Lane on the outskirts of Bath.

The road is a well-known accident blackspot

and the steep slope makes it easy to speed.

33.

Just to make you aware that it is a 20 zone.

It is residential, there is a school down there.

If we can reduce people's speed

and make them safer drivers

by giving them suitable advice and they heed that advice then it works.

-Anyone going too fast...

-25.

-..is given a talking-to.

But it's not just speeding that kills people.

Feelings are running high in the area

since a terrible crash earlier this year.

It was obviously very tragic.

A toddler from the local area was killed,

along with three people from Wales.

A 32-tonne truck driving down Lansdowne Lane collided

with cars and pedestrians just metres from the local school.

Really, for us, this is what neighbourhood teams do.

Listen to the concerns of the community and we try

and go out and address them

and try and prevent that sort of thing from happening again.

Wide loads like lorries are banned on the narrow, steep road.

Obviously, the wider a vehicle is, the chances are the heavier it is

and, therefore, the more risky it will be on this very steep hill.

Heavy vehicles are more likely to lose control driving down the hill.

If you contravene the six foot widths, you can,

potentially, get a 50 quid ticket.

Did my colleague explain about what happened with the accident?

I know all about that accident.

OK, so it's pretty horrendous and obviously we're trying

to prevent bigger vehicles using the road again.

-Yes.

-All right?

-Yes.

This time, the lorry driver is let off with a warning not to use

the route again.

Just spin the vehicle around up here

and head back down because we don't want to obviously

contravene both width limits, so spin it around.

All right, sir? Thanks for your time.

-Will is happy with how the operation is going.

-All right, sir.

Safe journey and keep your seatbelt on. Thank you.

And the heavy police presence is having a noticeable

effect on how people are driving through this small community.

People have seen that we are out and about and they've slowed down.

Hopefully, it will be the first of one or two more operations

in future where we can spread the message a bit further.

As well as catching criminals, a vital part of neighbourhood

policing is looking after people in the community.

HE GROANS

Pull yourself up, that's it. Well done!

And reaching out to the public.

Ah, Jas, go on! Put it on.

All across Somerset, people interested in joining the police

and seeing what life on the beat really involves can shadow

an officer for the day.

-Are you nervous at all?

-A little bit.

-A little bit?

In Weston-super-Mare, 18-year-old Jasmine will be heading out

with Wayne Hughes who has been on the force for over 20 years.

-We'll go along the seafront.

-Yes.

And we will do our first call of the day.

Wayne's beat covers the town centre and he regularly

calls in on vulnerable people he knows need support.

Today, he is visiting John, a recovering alcoholic.

Hello, John.

The reason why I came to see you is to make sure you're OK.

-This is Jasmine.

-Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.

Wayne has been checking in on John for months

and hopes his support can help John stay sober.

Have you got the shakes now because you had the shakes yesterday?

The tremors.

When was the last time you had a drop to drink?

About two days ago?

OK and how are you feeling in yourself?

OK. Have you got any money?

Right, is there anyone who can help you out for money?

Have you ever tried the food bank?

Visiting vulnerable people like John is a critical part of good

neighbourhood policing.

OK, bud! You go steady.

Sorry?

No worries. OK. All right. All the best.

Sad to see, like, people in that situation.

But it's nice to see officers like Wayne actually

spending the time to go and check that he's all right

and check he's getting, like, his rehabilitation.

I thought police would be arresting thieves or something like that.

I didn't realise they'd actually be helping people with addictions.

It's sad, isn't it?

-And he isn't a bad bloke, is he?

-No, he's nice.

It's a busy Thursday night and after 27 years on the force,

Wayne is quick to spot any bad behaviour.

Right, what gives you the right, then, to cycle against the traffic?

I don't believe you've cycled down the road in front of a police van.

It couldn't be any bigger, could it, or brighter?

I don't want to have to come one day to an accident involving you

because you were cycling the wrong way down the road. All right?

-Yeah.

-Have to scrape you off the road surface. All right?

-And it does happen, OK?

-Yeah.

-You only get one life.

Look after it, all right? OK.

The teenagers head off again.

This time, the right way down the road.

-Do you know 'em?

-No.

-Sure?

-Yeah, I don't know them.

Just five minutes later, Wayne and Jasmine are stopped again

after being flagged down by the victim of a road rage incident.

-Right, so any damage to your vehicle or injury to yourself?

-No.

-No.

A bit shook up, that's all I was.

-What type of car was it, do you know?

-I don't know.

It looked like a convertible, but...

Two men abused the delivery driver after he asked them

to move their car.

I could see he was very aggressive

so I went to get back in the van, closed the door and, with that,

he ripped the door open, grabbed the keys, threw them up the road and...

And got really threatening with me.

As they sped off, he managed to write their number plate down on his hand.

They were on something, though. You could tell they were high.

-Right.

-You know, very, very high.

-What makes you say that?

It was his manner. Especially the guy that got out of the car.

-Could you smell any alcohol on their breath?

-No, I didn't get that...

-No. I was thinking more drugs related...

-Right.

..but he was really high. He was not on this planet.

Wayne takes the driver's details and promises to investigate.

-All right?

-Thank you, Wayne.

-And I'll ring you tomorrow.

-Right, take care.

-All right? Take care.

Wayne tracked down the road rage motorists,

but the delivery driver didn't want to press charges.

It's 10pm and Jasmine's ride-along is coming to an end.

Would you want to do this in the next couple of years?

Yes, I've always wanted to do a job that could, like, make a difference.

And seeing what you did, not just, like, arresting people,

but helping people in the local community.

Seeing young people keen to join the police

and help serve their communities is great.

Neighbourhood teams work hard to build strong relationships

with the people they serve

and couldn't do their jobs without the public helping them.