Police teams have joined forces to target drug dealers, knife carriers and e-bike riders causing problems in Sneinton Market.
Uniformed and plain-clothes officers descended on the Sneinton Market area on Tuesday (19 May) following concerns raised by market stall holders, business owners and visitors to the venue.
The initiative was part of Operation Reclaim, a collaborative project to solve the biggest problems affecting Nottingham, and also took place during the national Sceptre campaign on knife crime.
Business owners at the market have recently raised concerns about drug crime taking place in and around the site.
The force’s knife crime team patrolled in plain clothes during the operation and were joined by the City Centre neighbourhood policing team.
Within minutes of their arrival in the market, at around 9 am, the knife crime team had spotted a suspected drug dealer operating and had him in cuffs.
During searches, officers found around 50 wraps of suspected heroin.
A 23-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to supply Class A drugs.
Further suspected Class A drugs were discovered when searches took place at a property associated with the suspect in Manvers Street, Sneinton.
Additional stop and searches took place around the edge of the market later in the shift, and high-visibility patrols will continue around the market area.
Sergeant Matt Daley, of the knife crime team, said:
“Issues around drug dealing in and near the market have been highlighted by business owners.
“The neighbourhood team did a lot of groundwork and asked us to help with the operation on the day.
“We dovetailed very well, and it was a great result to make an important arrest and take these drugs off the street.
“My team is always on the lookout for particular things, triggers which alert us to possible knife carriers, dealers and other criminal activity.
“Groups of people gathered and behaving suspiciously could be about to meet a drug dealer. We know drug crime goes hand in hand with weapon-enabled crime, disorder and other criminality.
“All these observations increase the grounds for a stop and search, which we know is a very effective way to recover both weapons and drugs.”
Chief Inspector Kylie Davies said:
“Sneinton Market is a vibrant and popular city venue, and we want to support the many independent businesses operating there.
“Neighbourhood officers have responded to recent concerns around drug dealing in the area, and it was good to see such positive results from Tuesday’s operation alongside the knife crime team.
“Our work supporting businesses in the area will continue through the Operation Reclaim initiative.”
Partners in Operation Reclaim include Nottingham City Council, the Violence Reduction Partnership, Nottinghamshire’s Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner and It’s in Nottingham, which represents city centre businesses.
We will use the Home Office tactic called Clear, Hold, Build, which is a three-phase approach to make the city safer, restore trust and confidence, and tackle organised crime groups and those causing the most harm to the city centre.
Knife Crime Awareness Week is running alongside Sceptre throughout this week, until 24 May.
Chief Inspector Davies has joined schools, youth organisations, charities, businesses, faith groups, sports clubs and members of the public in signing a pledge to make a difference on knife crime.
