Episode 6 Street Patrol UK

'Our lives are blighted by anti-social behaviour,

'whether it's nuisance neighbours...'

Will you let us in, please?

'..graffiti on the streets

'or too much booze.'

You need to make your way away from here right now.

'This is the story of the police officers...'

This is the police. Are you in here?

You've been drinking a bit today, haven't you?

'..council wardens...'

This is anti-social behaviour because it affects everybody.

'..and local volunteers whose job it is to keep it off our streets.'

Let's go do some good.

Welcome to Street Patrol UK.

'Today...

'..we take a journey through the night

'with the vice squad of Tower Hamlets...'

Open your mouth. Spit it out. Spit it out.

'..repel the would-be party pirates

'from raving on London's Regent's Canal...'

If I'm going to continue this interview I'm going to be arrested

because I have time till quarter past one to move,

which I'm going to do because I don't want to be arrested!

'..and meet the man who's found a novel way to flag up

'the dog-fouling frenzy of Folkestone.'

I think there may be a few people who think I'm a little bit bonkers.

There are some extremes of anti-social behaviour

that nobody would want in their neighbourhood.

Drug dealing and prostitution

would rate highly on absolutely everybody's list.

But getting them off the streets is no easy task,

and the vice squad, whose job it is to tackle both, are all too aware of

the link between the dealers and the girls who walk the streets.

'Densely populated Tower Hamlets may be one of the most

'deprived areas in the country but, it also has a vibrant night life.

'And that night life has a dark side.

'Prostitutes go about their business on people's doorsteps.

'Drug dealers operate in the open.

'It's a nightmare for the locals.'

'Last year we met Lily.

'She lives on an estate that was plagued by prostitutes

'using its dark alleys and storage areas for business.'

One of the striking things was

we have got a young family that live up here, so, you know,

the mother told us that her son was actually,

she could actually hear, like, noises and conversations which

weren't very pleasant and she was very concerned that her son was

hearing stuff that he shouldn't be, actually.

One of the key things that one resident shared with us

was that their six-year-old was playing out,

and he picked up what he thought was a balloon,

and he actually took it to his mouth and he started to blow it up.

'It was a condom.'

That was one of the things that actually really motivated me

to push forward the campaign and keep going at it, really.

'Things got so bad that she and other residents on her estate

'launched a high-profile campaign to stamp it out.

'And their landlord, One Housing Group,

'tackled it head on by installing

'new lighting and gating in the alleyways,

'and working in partnership with the police and other local agencies

'in the area to keep the estate safe.

'It has been completely turned around and has

'resulted in an 80% reduction in anti-social behaviour complaints.

'Since Lily bravely took up the campaign,

'the Metropolitan Police have been

'paying particular attention to the estate, with vice squad cops

'Sergeant David Deal and PC James Coxshall

'making it their regular beat.

'Tonight, they are on patrol in the area,

'seeking out the drug dealers and prostitutes.

'They have already received a tip-off.'

We have had a call from two complainants, regular callers,

who take pictures of some of the female street workers.

'The complaints are from residents whose homes look out onto an area

'notorious for prostitution.

'So the team go to investigate.'

We get pictures all the time from the complainants about, you know,

the women that are out working,

and they'll send us ten a month, probably ten pictures a month.

But this time last year they used to have 30 pictures a month

so there's been a reduction

in the amount of incidents of prostitution they have.

This is two residential blocks that look down onto this one car park,

and there is a complainant that lives in the block just to our left,

and he actually looks straight down on this corner here,

and, er, just around that corner

there is a little balcony from the first floor flat

and in that little alcove there

there'll quite often be people having sex.

That was probably the place we have caught

most people having sex, to be honest.

We've probably caught ten couples having sex here.

And this is all residential.

Look, someone's flat five feet above where they have sex.

And then there's that block that looks straight out on it.

It is really not very nice.

'There's nothing going on here at the moment,

'so they're back in the car to check out other hot spots.

'Although being paid for sex is not illegal in the UK,

'soliciting or loitering in a public place

'for the purposes of prostitution is an offence.

'And it can lead to large fines for those caught.

'It's not long before the vice team

'spot one of the regular girls on their beat.'

There she is, down the bottom there.

So all the time we've been at the other end,

she's just been standing there on that corner.

How are you?

Come and have a chat with us.

'Her story is typical of the prostitutes

'the vice squad deal with every night,

'women having to earn money through sex

'to pay for their drug use.'

Yeah, OK. All right. See you later.

Good luck. Hope court goes all right.

The young lady we were just speaking to,

erm, she's a street worker, she's got a massive drugs problem,

erm, she's using a very high amount of methadone

and topping up with other drugs as well.

They are having trouble getting her into rehab,

anywhere that could cope with the amount of drugs she's actually using.

'But it's not just the girls who are breaking the law.

'The vice squad cops are also in pursuit of the men

'who drive around these streets to pick up the girls.

'Kerb crawling is illegal and can result in fines of up to £1,000

'and a ban from driving, so it is a serious offence.

'The vice squad's work is aided by CCTV camera operators who

'monitor the streets for illegal and anti-social activity.'

Seriously, mate, you want to keep your eyes on and just update us?

'David and James spot a car going suspiciously slowly.

'They go in to take a closer look.'

So, James will ask this gentleman what he's been doing,

where he's been in the last few minutes, what he's been doing.

And he'll come out with some rubbish.

It looks to me as though you are

-looking for a prostitute.

-No, no. All I really...

In which case, how can you explain the route that you have taken?

-Erm...

-He's just looking for prostitutes.

All I know is, not obviously knowing London,

is that I was told if you come through, erm...

..come down the M11, etc, that way, and if you come through London

you will pick up the A3 and go through Brixton so...

I'll be honest, it ain't making sense

and you are digging yourself a big old hole, all right?

The routes that you are taking do not add up

about where you are trying to go, what you are trying to do.

You're in the middle of Bethnal Green

driving up and down the same roads.

You are driving the perfect loop in terms of kerb crawling.

Now, at the end of the day, there isn't a prostitute in your car,

we haven't seen you approach one,

so first off we will just give you the sheet which will basically

draw your attention to the offences that you could be committing

by driving around, if you were to pick up a prostitute,

if you were looking at them.

The account that he gave basically said

that he's from Kent and he's looking to get to Croydon,

both of which are way on the other side of the river,

and somehow he's ended up here in east London,

driving around the prostitute hot spots, if you like.

Perhaps we will see him again tonight, I don't know,

but his sat-nav or his own navigation

isn't up to much, that's for sure.

'Because they're aware that many prostitutes work

'in order to buy drugs,

'the team focus on removing the drugs from the streets.

'They also target the kerb crawlers

'who give the girls the means to buy them.

'They then help the girls into rehab.

'Over time the hope is that the vicious circle will be broken.'

You can't really tell if it is going to be busy or

if it is going to be dead regarding people working on the street.

'The team have a nose for the bad guys,

'and it doesn't take long for them to recognise a car

'with known connections to drug dealing.

'So they pull it over.'

WAILING SIREN AND RADIO CHATTER

There's weed in the car.

Who's got it, have you got it or have they got it?

-I ain't got nothing.

-You ain't got nothing?

Right, fella, we are looking for drugs, we can smell it in the car.

Hold on to your keys, fella.

'While David moves the men to one side,

'James searches the car and finds what he is looking for.'

Oh, boys!

-Anything else on ya?

-No, nothing.

-But it's yours, is it?

-Yeah, I bought it.

All right, James, do you want to nick him

cos you've seen where it is?

'Another police car draws up to offer backup.

'Then David finds a wad of cash.'

Awful lot of money to leave in a car.

'It takes time to do a thorough search of the car

'and question the men.'

Erm, we found 11 bags of cannabis in the car,

so one guy's been nicked, he said it was his.

There is some money in the car,

possible there is something else going on.

There could be some drug dealing but we've got no evidence of that

so we've just arrested the one person.

'With one man arrested and on his way to the nick,

'the others drive into the night

'minus their stash.'

We stopped the vehicle, just to have a chat with the driver.

On stopping the vehicle, it's...

Exactly, it smelled strongly of cannabis.

Seven in this bag and one there, so eight in total.

-Seven or eight in total.

-Yeah, 18253...

'Back at the police station,

'the duty sergeant processes the drugs and the culprit.

'He's heading for a night in the cells.

'Later, the boys from the vice squad are back out

'on the trail of the girls and the dealers who supply them.'

Now we all love a party, but when it's at someone else's expense

that doesn't exactly make it fun.

Illegal raves and parties can blight people's lives,

bringing noise and anti-social behaviour to all the residents

who are unfortunate enough to live close by.

And it seems nowhere is immune.

'London's Regent's Canal is a busy working waterway,

'but last year it was turned into a party venue when an event

'dubbed Canalival was promoted on social media sites

'and a flash bomb of thousands of drunk, noisy revellers

'descended onto the water.'

Thousands of people with inflatable dinghies appeared

and created a beautiful festival.

I could see this sea of colourful dinghies, it was amazing,

and I was really impressed I thought, "That's a well-organised, fun party."

It went from about 6pm to the morning hours of Sunday.

'The problem was the festival wasn't a well-organised party at all.

'It wasn't cleared with the authorities,

'and too many people crowded onto the water.

'What at first seemed like fun, quickly got out of hand.'

I saw one of my friend's boats was in the picture.

I thought, "Oh, they've got a lot of visitors."

I realised they weren't on board and all the visitors were actually

vandals climbing over their solar panels, their flower beds etc,

and that's when my opinion changed immediately.

I knew something was wrong.

'Canalival rapidly became a nightmare,

'blocking the waterway, obstructing walkers on the towpath

'and upsetting both local residents and wildlife.'

People using people's gardens as toilets, littering, erm,

and unfortunately it was the time of year when we had nesting birds.

Nests got damaged and birds wouldn't return to their nests.

Anything that stops boats from moving and doing their proper job is,

in my mind, anti-social.

It was a miracle nobody was hurt.

'The next morning residents woke to awful scenes.

'Piles of rubbish everywhere, abandoned dinghies on the canal,

'a real mess which you wouldn't want in your back yard.

'For Canal and River Trust Maintenance Manager Sam Thomas,

'the area paid a high price for the party.'

The detrimental effect to the canal

and the surrounding area was quite devastating.

The next day the canal looked like a bomb site.

£4,000 it cost the Canal & River Trust to clear and dispose of

all the debris that was created.

'A year on, the River Trust, police, local council and waterway

'authorities are all determined to stop it happening again.

'Only Sam has just heard that Canalival 2014

'is about to kick off.'

We've heard that the plan for the event is to start at midday.

Being led by Hackney Council and the Metropolitan Police,

we've supported them to be here as a presence

to deter people from doing it again.

'Chief Inspector Shabnam Chandhri from Hackney Police

'has come down in plain clothes to help spearhead the operation.'

What we don't want is a repeat of last year where there was damage

to the natural habitat,

the canal was full of alcohol, anti-social behaviour and so on.

So far it's a clear canal, if you like.

'In order to secure the area,

'Sam and his team have locks at the ready,

'if needed, to chain up the access point to the towpath.'

Our staff will come down and close the locks off

if we deem there is a public safety issue.

'The council and water authorities are prepared to repel all boarders.

'There's no place for a party here today!'

So the aspiration from today is

the canal stays open, the towpath stays open,

but I don't want any disruption, I want business as usual.

This is one of the busiest stretches of canal in London.

'But one or two party pirates may not have got the message.'

We are blessed with beautiful weather today,

and I think, me, personally,

people will come with the dinghies, we will see some action.

I can see then it's like very peaceful before the storm.

There were some boats on the towpath moorings,

and they're known to us.

They've played loud music in the past,

one of them was certainly at Canalival last year,

and a bit of a nucleus for the event that went on into the early hours.

Council and police are desperate to stop it.

So we've spoke to them and said,

"Look, we've had lots of complaints from the local residents.

"We know you were here last year,

"we don't want it to happen again this year. Can you move?"

If I'm going to continue this interview I'm going to be arrested

because I have time till quarter past one

to move to the gasworks,

which I'm going to do because I don't want to be arrested.

'So the Pirates beat a tactical retreat.'

Thankfully with the police support

they've moved away from the location, just moved just now.

'Sam's worried that the organisers may change the location

'at the last moment in an effort to outsmart the police.'

Steve, can you take some lads up to City Road to change some padlocks

and get ready to close the lock down if we need to?

-Sure.

-Yeah? OK, now they know, yeah? Cheers, thanks.

Canalival have always said they are quite fluid,

they may move somewhere else, and that's a real challenge for us.

We don't want to play "catch me if you can,"

we just need to be ready if people go in another location.

'Meanwhile canal boat residents aren't taking any chances.

'They're battening down the hatches.'

The most you can do at the moment is expect it to happen,

prepare for the worst and hope for the best.

'As the afternoon progresses all remains quiet,

'but then word comes through that people are taking to the water.'

We've just had a report of some people turning up

at the next lock up with a dinghy and some beer,

looking to go in the water.

Some of the team have spoken to them and we've spoken with the police.

The police are going to go up there

and persuade them from not putting their dinghy in the water.

Let's go do some good.

This is the first one we've had so far,

so if we can deal with it quickly we may stop further people coming.

'By the time the police arrive,

'some small boats have launched in anticipation.'

GIGGLING

-Wa-ay!

-Oi! Why don't you stay in the BLEEP boat?

Stop swearing, pal.

-Don't swear.

-You guys have to take the boat away.

-Why?

LAUGHTER AND CHATTER

If I understand correctly,

we have to either choose to be on the boat OR drinking.

We can't do both.

My advice to you - and this is only my advice -

firstly is to come off the water, you've all had a drink.

You have got no life jacket. I know I'm being wary.

And the other issue too, if you stay there, I'm going to take

-the alcohol off you.

-Yeah, yeah.

-So can we just be cool about it?

-Yeah.

THEY LAUGH

The police and their approach has not been heavy-handed at all.

Just have to engage with people and just manage their expectations.

Looks like they'll have to find somewhere else to float.

OK, late on in the afternoon, it's all quiet, all is good.

People seem to have listened to the key message -

don't come to Canalival.

Where is the rest of it? We can't be the whole of Canalival?!

We don't discourage people to have formal events.

We want to work WITH them, we want people to have a good time.

The feedback we've had from people on the towpath is it's great to see

a positive response from everyone to prevent it happening.

So I think it's good all round, I think people are happy.

It was a lot better last year, right? Cos there were other boats!

I've been out on a street patrol of my own to find out

what bothers you about Britain today.

-What's your name?

-Sophie.

-Sophie, are you a smoker?

No! No, I don't smoke.

Have I stirred something up here?

Yeah... Well, I suppose people flicking their cigarette butts.

I mean, I'm not a smoker so I guess I don't understand the problems that

come with it, but it's a choice that you make

so if you decide to smoke in the middle of the high street

and there's nowhere to put your cigarette butt,

that's your problem, you shouldn't just chuck it on the floor.

Yeah. People seem to think that it's OK to throw cigarette butts

on the floor, and this is some people who wouldn't throw litter,

-but think cigarettes are fine.

-Absolutely. Yes.

Where's the logic in that?!

It's something that has become a bit acceptable amongst smokers,

something that is OK to do, but I think, yeah, it's just the same.

Do you think antisocial behaviour has got worse?

You know, people aren't as considerate to other people

as perhaps they have been in the past.

Do you think it's drink-related?

I think it certainly CAN be drink-related, definitely,

I'm not really a partier,

but I'd imagine if you went out on a Friday night,

you would see a lot of antisocial behaviour, and I am sure

a lot of it would be drink-related, and those same people

wouldn't do that, you know, on a Monday afternoon

walking down the high street.

-What's your name?

-My name's Patch.

Patch, nice to meet you. You haven't got a patch, though, have you?

-Why do they call you Patch?

-Because my name's Patrick.

Oh, fair enough. You've been a cab driver most of your life.

What sort of things have you seen out on the road

that's really annoyed you?

When you get a rude person sitting in the car,

despite the fact you have gone out of your way to do everything

to satisfy your customer, and they still make complaints

about, you know, the service they are getting.

-Thanks for your time.

-And you.

-I appreciate it.

It's disgusting to think that some are people are prepared

to leave a filthy mess lying around for other people to clear up.

But sadly fly-tipping in the UK is on the increase.

What makes it even worse is some tippers are prepared to dump rubbish

that can be hazardous to people's health.

But one local community

in an Area Of Outstanding Beauty are tackling the problem head on.

'Northwest England, Birchwood near Warrington -

'an idyllic woodland location,

'perfect for days out, walking and picnics.

'But if you go down to the woods today,

'you'll be in for a big surprise.

'This Area Of Natural Beauty has been blighted

'with some of the worst fly-tipping I've seen.

'But local residents have formed a volunteer group to support

'the Woodland Trust, to stamp out these blots on their landscape

'and reclaim this woodland for the people.'

It's a beautiful woodland, especially when the sun's out

and the trees are in leaves,

like now, and to come across a pile of fly-tipping or rubbish

that someone's dumped without any thought,

it just ruins it for any visitors, really.

It's just really mindless of people to dump any of their waste

in the woods, and just not caring about the impact it has.

'There's so much illegal fly-tipping in the area,

'the team has been forced to hire two skips to get rid of it all.'

We do regular litter picks on the site and we can

keep on top of that, you know, little bits of careless litter dropping,

but this is large-scale fly-tipping and it's been going on for years.

'These residents are determined to tackle the assumption

'that their area can be used as a rubbish dump.'

It's because it's just by the motorway junction, people come along

and just drop a van full of stuff and zoom off again,

and it's just been such a blot on the landscape,

we thought this is an opportunity

to actually get some skips and get rid of all the big rubbish.

'It's extraordinary what people chuck away,

'without a thought for the environment.'

I think it's a mixture

of some household waste,

maybe a builder is clearing a house

or something like that, or they might just be residents,

and until we catch them, we really won't know.

Sometimes you find letters or Christmas cards and stuff like that.

'And many of the volunteers have got a pretty low opinion

'of the fly-tippers.'

I think it's stealing, stealing from the community.

It's just immoral, they shouldn't do it

and we don't want it here, so that's why we're tidying it up.

'It's tough work,

'but the team are determined to get rid of this antisocial eyesore.

'The exercise and common goal foster a real sense of community spirit.

'Everyone pulls together.'

We've had a good turnout, we've had over 20 volunteers.

Everyone seems to have really enjoyed getting stuck in.

'Suddenly the team makes a deadly discovery.

'There's something dangerous in the undergrowth.'

Step away from the material!

'They've unearthed asbestos...'

If we just step back. I think we might have to leave that.

'..probably the most toxic

'and hazardous material you can find, just dumped on the side of the road.'

Yeah, guys, just put it down and step back from it.

Just leave that for now.

So, I think we found some, what we think might be

small pieces of asbestos broken up in the rubbish,

um, which means that we need a specialist contractor to remove it.

It will be very expensive to remove that now.

'Asbestos was extensively used as a building material

'in the UK for decades.'

OK, see you in five minutes.

'When it's broken up, its tiny crystalline fibres can be

'breathed in easily and can penetrate deep into the lining

'of the lungs, causing disease and sometimes cancer.'

We'll leave this for a specialist, unfortunately.

'The specialist removal costs could run into thousands,

'and it will be the Woodland Trust that foots the bill.

'Money that could be better spent on improving the area.'

People are perhaps ignorant about the damage that this causes.

If they're not ignorant about it,

then they're just extremely selfish.

It's just awful that people should come and do that here.

It makes me quite angry, actually.

'Because of the dangers, the whole team now have to down tools

'after just a few hours' work.'

Once you get started, you want to finish the job,

and so to suddenly come across something like that which means

you have to stop, once you leave some of that behind,

that's very disappointing.

Rubbish breeds rubbish, so if we don't clean it up,

we're not going to finish it,

we'll have to go up another day to do it.

-Come back a bit more regularly.

-Yeah.

People didn't want to stop straightaway,

I had to ask several times for people to stop...

and, yeah, it is very frustrating.

'Despite the asbestos, they've achieved an enormous amount today

'and have filled the skips.'

We've found probably about 30 tyres,

all sorts of bits of furniture and waste that people have removed

and dumped so, yeah, it's been

a really good morning and we have achieved a lot.

'But what would be a bigger achievement would be

'if these guys didn't have to clear up

'after selfish antisocial people trying to save a few pounds.'

It is very antisocial, it's not like you think of being violent

to someone or noise or something, but it is equally antisocial

to just leave your rubbish for people to walk past or to have to clear up.

'Although there is a hefty fine of up to £95,000

'for very serious fly-tipping offences,

'there's still clearly a long way to go to change attitudes.

'Maybe it's time to get even tougher.'

Antisocial behaviour, be it intimidation,

excessive noise, fly-tipping, graffiti or vandalism,

are just not what you or I should expect to have to put up with.

But there are people all over the UK

whose lives are ruined by it.

So it's just as well there are people we can turn to.

'We're on the front line with the highly-skilled teams

'of council workers, police officers and volunteers

'who are committed to keeping our streets safe and clean

'and taking on our antisocial battles on a daily basis,

'to make sure that our lives are not blighted

'by other people's bad behaviour.'

This is Street Patrol UK.

If you're one of the millions of people in the UK that own a dog,

you know perfectly well it's down to you

to pick up your precious pooch's poop!

Yet STILL some people think it's all right to leave it where it is,

for other people to step round or step in.

And how many of us are frustrated,

thinking there's nothing we can do about it?

Well, one man has got fed up of the dog poop in his neighbourhood

and has come up with a novel way of fighting back.

'In the seaside holiday resort of Folkestone,

'dog fouling is getting out of hand.

'It has been claimed that this town

'has the biggest poop problem in Kent.'

I think letting your dog foul without clearing up after it is

probably one of the most antisocial things that the public can do.

It looks unsightly, it's smelly, it's just awful.

It's just disgraceful.

And people have got to be more responsible.

If they are going to have animals,

then they have to care for them in the proper way,

and that's also picking up...faeces.

Folkestone does have an issue with dog fouling,

and it's an issue that we are determined to tackle.

'To combat the problem, the council has introduced patrols

'to deter fouling.

'But despite issuing fines and installing lots of poo bins,

'they seem to be losing the battle.'

You do seem to see some new signs going up on lampposts and that,

and you do see some specific dog-poo boxes, if you like,

with bags, which they supply on the box.

The problem is, if we simply clear up after them,

it will happen again the following day and the following day.

We've actually got to stop the offenders,

we've got to catch them, we've got to warn them,

and if they persist, then we've got to issue fines.

It's impossible for them to police it themselves,

so for most dog owners there's no deterrent.

'But someone in Folkestone wants to change all that.'

We see quite a lot of dog poo with flags, Union Jacks in them.

'Recently Folkestone residents have noticed the dog poos

'mysteriously sprouting flags.'

We thought it was a notification for people who are walking,

um, so they don't stand in the poo.

'Someone was waging a campaign to stop the dog-poo perpetrators.'

Slightly humorous, yeah. It could have been a different flag,

but it happened to be a Union Jack one,

which, you know, is keeping up the British spirit.

'But who was this mystery faeces fighter,

'flagging up poo on the pavements of Folkestone

'and posting pictures of them online?'

I think that it's very antisocial,

and I think most people would agree that it is antisocial.

'For filmmaker Peter Blach, his quirky campaign against dog fouling

'was launched in response to what he saw

'as the ineffectual measures put in place by the local authorities.'

I came up with this idea because,

by putting flags in poos, you actually...

instead of, um, shouting about it, you're kind of doing it

in a positive, gentle way,

which I thought was suitable and appropriate for me.

And it allows me to make my point

without having to shout at people

and without having to complain to the council.

'Peter doesn't blame the council for the problem.

'He just wants his humorous protest to get their attention.'

You can't expect the councils to leave people out there

and spying on people with dogs and then fining them.

It's very hard to fine people who do it. You know,

you very rarely see dog owners, you know, leaving poo behind.

Hmm...

Tell you what, guys, I can see something over there on the corner.

'To help him in his flagging campaign, Peter has enlisted

'the aid of two enthusiastic sidekicks - his children.'

'They're very keen to help me. Now, when we go for walks

'and find dog poos, they're actually fighting over who gets to flag it.'

'Every time the family go out, they carry their mini flags,

'which they bought online.'

So I buy the flags, and you can get about 90 flags

for about £3, including postage.

I've taken some photos of the poos that we've just been out flagging,

and we're now going to upload them.

'Peter seems to have struck a chord.

'Especially since he has been promoting his campaign

'through an online group he's set up called Flag The Poop.'

Hopefully in the next couple of hours,

someone will comment on that and say, "Oh, yeah, that's good fun,"

and then maybe someone else will take a photo with the poo

and their child in there. Then there's a little conversation.

Flag The Poop - I first read about that in the local newspaper

and thought, "Oh, that's a great idea." It sort of seemed to fit in

with my own way of thinking about the dog fouling.

Some other people have bought their own flags

and they are now out flagging poops with me.

So far, yeah, I've used them a couple of times to flag some poop,

and take photos and post them online.

It looks like there is a little army getting together.

'Peter hopes others around the UK

'whose streets suffer from similar fouling

'may jump on board and turn Flag The Poop into a national campaign.'

I think that there might be a few people

who think I'm a little bit bonkers.

But, you know, at the same time, they salute what I am doing.

I think that Flag The Poop will raise awareness of everybody,

and I think that because there is so much dog fouling around,

people tend to walk down the street,

and unless they stand in it they're oblivious to it,

they don't see it. But if you walk down the street

and see half a dozen flags in the pathway,

you're going to look at that and automatically think,

"Oh, that's disgusting, that's terrible."

I think we should all have flags so we can highlight it all together.

I would like to see that, in a generation's time,

it will be completely frowned upon

and people will just grow up knowing that that is not what you do.

For the time being, I will be very happy for more people

to join my campaign.

I don't think it is just an issue for this local area in Folkestone,

I think it is a nationwide issue,

and so why not take the campaign nationwide?

'Who knows, Peter's novel idea might just catch on.

'Let's get back to what is bothering you in Britain today.'

-And what's your name?

-My name is Jill.

-Jill, lovely to meet you. It's Dominic.

-Lovely to meet you.

What have you witnessed, not just today,

in your life, that you would class as antisocial?

Well, I tell you what I don't like.

I have to use public transport, and I don't like the way people push

and shove at a bus stop.

They think that they are first in the queue,

when you have been waiting there for 10, 15 minutes

and then they just come up and barge in front of you.

I think also, people that tend to talk loud on their phones

-on the trains...

-Yeah!

-You know, you are hearing all their business.

Sometimes, on the train, they are talking so loud

I think, "You don't need a phone! They can probably hear you."

-Exactly!

-Doesn't matter which part of the country he is in!

Thanks, Jill, have a lovely weekend.

Next up we're back on patrol with the vice squad in Tower Hamlets.

And it seems, when these cops are battling drugs and prostitution,

the streets never sleep.

'Vice squad cops David Deal and James Coxshall have been called

'by CCTV operators to a potential drug deal going down nearby.'

SIREN BLARES

Are they still waiting?

'They head in to stop the criminals in their tracks.'

-He definitely said that.

-That's what he said.

'The suspect's car isn't where they were told it would be.'

It's a no-trace.

'But then they find it parked down a side street.'

What's going on?

Open the door. ..Because you just dealt.

-No, I didn't.

-Yeah, you did.

-No, I didn't.

-Yeah, you did.

-No, I didn't.

-OK.

Well, that's the difference - you say you didn't, I say you did.

-I say hello to someone, doesn't mean I deal.

-OK.

This isn't a very good place to come and deal, though.

-I am not dealing, man.

-Oh, yeah, I forgot, I forgot.

'They have a heated discussion,

'but there's no evidence of drug dealing this time,

'and experience tells David and James

'that it's not worth searching the car, as any drugs will now be gone.

'But at least the men in the car know the vice squad is watching them.

'These guys never know what's round the next corner.

'They spot a man who looks the worst for wear.'

It's not a great pace to kip.

'It turns out he's had too much to drink, but he seems OK.'

We just wanted to make sure you were safe.

'He tells them he's fine and he's going home.'

-See you later.

-Thank you for being caring.

That's all right, we're the caring side of the Met!

'But it looks like he's happy staying on the pavement for now.'

He's happy, he's not causing a massive problem, there's no noise.

He wasn't even snoring.

'It's the early hours of the morning,

'but there's no let-up on the streets,

'and David and James notice

'a potentially dangerous situation unfolding.'

She is walking around, getting in.

'They need to act quickly,

'as the van takes off into a warren of side streets.'

-Oh, where has it gone?

-He's turned off.

You could go around by the church.

-There it is.

-Where?

-Well done!

-Good spot!

-Perfect.

Every car that they get into is a massive risk.

They don't necessarily know that person,

but she is desperate to get drugs, she needs her drugs for today,

and her way of paying for the drugs is to work.

Police officers.

Get him to open up the door.

'It could just be really tough,'

and caution and arrest and arrest and arrest the street workers,

because they do commit offences and they could be arrested.

We just need to have a chat, we couldn't see what you were doing.

Don't worry, you're not going to get arrested.

You definitely don't do that.

We try to build up a relationship with them.

-You all right, darling?

-Yeah.

-Good, good.

We would rather she didn't work

and we would rather try and help her, get her in with the drugs people.

See you later. Don't let us catch you.

And James is issuing a warning letter to the gentleman

for picking up prostitutes.

And hopefully we don't see that car or that van and that bloke again.

'The team has received a tip-off that drug dealing is going on

'in a particular block of flats.

'After only a short stakeout they see a known street worker

'who looks like she's about to buy some drugs.

'They move in.

'But the situation quickly changes. It seems that the suspect is

'trying to hide his drugs by swallowing them -

'potentially endangering his own life.'

Fella, spit it out. Don't start struggling with me.

Spit it out. Spit it out.

Now, it is quite common both for dealers and people who use

either crack cocaine or heroin, they'll keep it in their mouth.

MUFFLED SPEECH

'Short of putting my finger in or jamming his lips open,

'I'm not going to be able to get it'

and I can see he has gone to swallow straightaway.

So you see I went straight for his neck,

and it does look quite aggressive, what I did,

'but basically I'm trying to stop him from swallowing that.'

Spit it out.

-That was stupid, wasn't it?

-Well, I saw it in your mouth!

You need to go to hospital.

So, first of all, I don't want him to swallow that

because, at the end of the day, if that bursts in his stomach

he could die, and secondly, I want to get those drugs

so I can arrest him and that would also have given us the power

to go back into that address.

'If drugs WERE found, David and James would take the suspect

'to hospital to seek medical help, but as he insists

'he hasn't swallowed anything, there's nothing more they can do.'

It's very common that drugs

and on-street prostitution are hand-in-hand.

I would say 85% to 90% of the women we deal with

who are working as on-street prostitutes do use hard drugs,

whether that be crack cocaine or heroin or both together,

um, yes, it is hand-in-hand.

'Every dealer we get off our streets

'and every working girl who can be helped off drugs

'and out of prostitution can only be a good thing.'

That's your lot for today. Thanks for watching.