Police Perspective: Our work is already seeing reductions in most serious violence

Our ongoing intensive operation to tear apart Class A drug supply lines in the city has resulted in a number of notable convictions, helping to disrupt the efforts of organised crime groups (OCGs) who previously thought they were untouchable.

We know, however, that there is still a lot of work to do in this regard and while we continue to hunt out suppliers of drugs like cocaine and heroin to stop them flooding our streets, we are also continuing to raid cannabis factories across the city.

Some people might think cannabis is a harmless drug but its links to organised crime have been proven.

Huge, sophisticated cannabis grows are often being cultivated inside very unassuming and normal-looking suburban properties and it's important we gather intelligence to execute drugs warrants and seize the drugs that are being harvested inside these properties.

The production of cannabis often leads to vulnerable people being exploited by way of being forced to look after the grows, and we work with our Modern Slavery teams to combat this and offer appropriate safeguarding, protection and support.

The sale of this drug then funds organised criminality which results in horrific violence in our city.

Knife attacks, serious violent assaults and firearms discharges are some of the consequences of drugs supply when organised crime groups come into conflict as they attempt to increase their influence over the drugs markets.

We will not tolerate this in our city and our work is already seeing reductions in most serious violence (MSV), with the

crime rate for MSV per 1,000 population falling by 22 per cent in 2023 compared to 2022.

We are always gathering and building intelligence on where these cannabis factories are but I want to encourage the people of Doncaster to support us in this mission as we know that we are better when we work together.

If you have concerns about a potential cannabis cultivation in your neighbourhood, you must report it to police so we can tackle this issue and tear apart these operations.

I would also encourage you to keep an eye out for the tell-tale signs that a house is being used to grow cannabis.

Some of the signs include:

Heavy smell of cannabis from outside a property

Blacked out windows

Excessive condensation on windows

Signs of a property not being lived in – bins not being put out, garden not maintained etc.

Blocked letterbox

Heavy use of anti-odour devices

Visitors at unusual hours who only stay for a short period of time

You can report information to us on 101 or by using the reporting tool on our new website: https://www.southyorkshire.police.uk/contact/af/contact-us-beta/contact-us/