Safer 6 - Week Three sees illegal goods seized, more waste cleared and more arrests
Published on 7th November 2012
Week three of Sandwell's Safer 6 campaign saw over 40,000 smuggled cigarettes seized along with 20 kilograms of tobacco and 110 litres of booze - worth more than £11,000 in lost revenue in total.
Officers from HM Revenue & Customs and the council trading standards' team made the biggest haul, of 34,000 cigarettes and 12 kilograms of hand-rolled tobacco, from a house in West Bromwich.
This followed on from an operation the previous week at a shop in West Bromwich which also saw cigarettes and tobacco seized.
Together with police, HM Revenue & Customs and trading standards seized further suspected smuggled items, including 6,200 cigarettes, eight kilograms of tobacco and 110 litres of spirits, from six shops in the Smethwick area.
Investigations following both operations are ongoing.
Meanwhile, offenders doing Community Payback as part of their community service sentences from court put in 588 hours and cleared eight tonnes of waste.
Supervised by Staffordshire & West Midlands Probation Trust, offenders cleaned up areas including canal towpaths, together with Sandwell Homes and British Waterways.
Offenders also cleaned up the Oxford Street green space in Wednesbury, Thorn Close, Wednesbury, and Richmond Street pathway, Harvills Hawthorn.
West Midlands Fire Service gave talks to over 300 primary school pupils at three Wednesbury schools on how to have a safe and enjoyable Bonfire Night and Diwali.
They also carried out inspections at 11 shops selling fireworks, checking that vendors were following safety guidelines and licences.
Firefighters and Riverside Housing jointly inspected 16 homes in the Wednesbury area, fitting smoke alarms at 12 properties where needed.
Police carried out high visibility patrols throughout the week and made 12 arrests. They seized drugs nine times, including a cannabis raid at a home in Carisbrooke Road, Friar Park, which led to three of the arrests.
They also checked 30 vehicles in a road safety operation in the Crankhall Lane area of Wednesbury, with the fire service giving advice to drivers stopped on the correct use of seat belts and child car seats.
Council wardens and police carried out joint patrols in Blackheath on Halloween.
The Youth Bus visited three estates in Wednesbury to give out safety advice to teenagers, supported by the council's young people's services.
A number of young people also visited Wednesbury Police Station for an educational tour of the cell block, with police giving them an insight into community safety and criminal justice.
And Litterwatch used the Eco Bus to raise litter and recycling awareness with children at The Priory School, Wednesbury. The bus also went to Friar Park, working jointly with Sandwell Homes and the Dog's Trust, to work with local people on dog fouling issues, including handing out poop bags.
Sandwell Homes anti-social behaviour officers and police visited a number of homes in Wednesbury to give reassurance to local people and remind any perpetrators of their future behaviour.
The police and Sandwell Homes also gave advice in Wednesbury town centre, outside Morrisons.
Councillor Simon Hackett, the council's cabinet member for housing, joined Sandwell Homes officers and police to carry out security checks on empty garages in Friar Park.
Serco officers also joined Councillor Hackett, police and Sandwell Homes and council officers on a walkabout, looking at local issues and how best to tackle them.
Council private sector housing officers checked nearly 100 empty private homes, making sure they were not accessible to trespassers.
The Safer 6 campaign involves the police, council and many partners working together to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and provide reassurance as the nights draw in and during the bonfire and fireworks season, building on their day-to-day crime-fighting activities together.
They are tackling crime and anti-social behaviour across all six towns throughout the six-week campaign, with a special focus for a week on each town.
The first week had a special focus on West Bromwich, the second week on Oldbury, the third week on Wednesbury and this week's is on Smethwick.
There's more information on the Safer 6 campaign at our Safer 6 webpage or on Twitter @sandwellpolice and @sandwellcouncil using the #Safer6 hashtag.
Organisations taking part include:
- Sandwell Council
- Sandwell Police
- West Midlands Fire Service
- Sandwell Homes
- Staffordshire & West Midlands Probation Trust - Community Payback
- HM Revenue & Customs
- Litterwatch
- Serco
- Safer Travel Partnership
- Sandwell Drug & Alcohol Partnership
- Riverside Housing Association