THE MAYOR led politicians, the police and council workers on a Day of Action against drugs last week. The team had a van and posters outside the Town Hall and workers spread out around the vicinity to help where they could.
The positive aspect about the Council’s approach to drugs has always been to steer people away from drugs; to support those who take drugs to get clean; and to protect the community from the problems caused by drug-taking.
The Mayor explained the mission. “We want to tackle the causes of drug-taking,” he said, “but prevention is equally important.” He added, “We have invested millions of pounds a year in community safety. We have created an additional drugs unit to tackle drug supply in the borough and work with the police. We want to make sure that suppliers of drugs are apprehended and brought to justice. Youngsters and anyone in that world… we want to work with them to rehabilitate them – whether it’s treatment, whether it’s counselling, whether it’s any other form of support.”
Cllr Kabir Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Public Protection and Integrated Enforcement (another job title from the Ministry of Silly Names), formally launched the Day of Action. He was pleased that the borough’s Multi-Agency Partnership had come together to tackle drug-dealing – and the Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) that goes with it.
He announced that the team was going to go out around the streets of Whitechapel, promoting the many services the Partnership has. He hoped this visual presence will show everyone that the Council takes the issue of drugs seriously and realised that the Council was working to prevent crime and disorder in Tower Hamlets.
“We will be speaking to residents,” Cllr Ahmed said, “and making sure that those who have substance misuse issues can get targeted support and have access to service provision, because if they can have access to rehabilitation they can change their lives. That will have a positive impact for their family and society.”
A video on the Council’s Facebook page reported that the Outcomes from the Day of Action were: •24 Individuals contacted •24 people given advice and harm minimisation •2 assessments completed •3 SSMIT follow-up appointments accepted
It’s difficult for the lay person to work out the significance of these outcomes as it hard to work out what they are, but it does sound like a small number of outcomes for a whole Day of Action. The video shows the team going out on the Day: there must be around 20 people in the team of politicians and professionals.
What residents will want to know now is whether the Day of Action approach is being rolled out across the borough, with the team hitting other wards.
●Read more about it: Council says drink & drug-related ASB down 5% Drug dealers: arrests down since Lutfur Rahman days