Knives and a hammer were found in an Ipswich park by police officers who are working to tackle drug dealing in one of the town’s most deprived areas.
Two people were also arrested on suspicion of supplying a controlled drug and a large quantity of what is thought to be Class A drugs was seized from a property during Suffolk Constabulary’s day of action in central-west Ipswich.
Officers spent this morning searching for weapons in the Jubilee Park area of the town, and in the afternoon they used a sniffer dog and a specialist team of police to locate drug items stashed in the vicinity of Alderman Road, near Portman Road.
These areas were targeted because Suffolk Constabulary has received a high number of calls by members of the public reporting that violence and drug dealing is prominent there.
Sergeant Kevin Lee, who is part of Suffolk Constabulary’s search team, said: “We are doing this to reassure members of the public that we do take what they are saying seriously and because anti-social behaviour is something that has a detrimental effect on the community.
“To the people who do want to commit criminal offences it shows them that we are out there tackling what they are doing and we do want to bring them before the court and to justice.”
Superintendent Kerry Cutler, of Suffolk Constabulary, said the Jubilee Park area, which is located where Surrey Road and Sirdar Road meet, had been a crime hot-spot for a number of years and police were working with different agencies in the area to try and combat the problem.
During the search operation, officers found a small hammer, a knife blade, a kitchen knife and a double-ended spear-like weapon hidden in a green space known as Jubilee Park.
“We have got a changing community there with a high turnover of housing, it is also a flats letting area and I think it’s one of our most deprived wards,” Supt Cutler said. “We are doing huge work with engaging with troubled young teenagers.”
Vicky Mcparland and John Driver are sergeants for Suffolk Constabulary’s central safer neighbourhood team, and they have been working with schools and families to confront truancy problems.
Sgt Mcparland said most of the crime that was committed around Jubilee Park was by people aged between 10 and 16.
“This time of year there’s always an increase in anti-social behaviour because it’s warmer and the evenings are lighter, but we are encouraging people in the area to contact us and we are trying to keep on top of it,” she added.
“We have engaged with education and social services to ask why people are not in school, and usually there are underlying issues that we are already aware of, so it just joins the dots up.”
A drugs search was led by Sgt Lee and his specialist search team, along with a sniffer dog, in Alderman Road park between noon and 2pm and drug paraphernalia was found. Staff from Ipswich Borough Council also attended to help clean up the park.
Sgt Lee said: “It’s very much a community response to intelligence and information that’s come forward, without the community and members of the public coming forward and informing us, stuff like this wouldn’t necessarily be possible.”
Anyone with information about a crime should call police 101 or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.
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