Drugs - the use, purchase and sale of drugs can cause anti-social behaviour and misery to others. This activity can cause people to loiter in groups which is intimidating for visitors and residents.

Dealing with drug related issues can be a daily occurrence for police officers and the negative effects are clear to see.

Drug misuse links to just about every crime type and is detrimental to our communities. We work with support groups who offer interventions and work with people to tackle addiction.

Officers on patrol often encounter people in possession of drugs and these are recovered during searches. Over recent months we have had several drug recoveries from city centre premises and the suspects remain on bail for those offences. It is an important part of our work especially when we listen to feedback from surveys where people tell us they feel unsafe when there are groups of people hanging around or begging. We know this feeds into the levels of shoplifting and has an impact on our business community.

There is support available in the city for people with addiction needs and helpful information can be found on the City of Wolverhampton council webiste.

If you have information about people involved in the supply of drugs but you do not wish to speak to police, you can contact Crimestoppers - 0800 555111. Their website also holds information about other campaigns and ways you can help.

Anti-social behaviour

We have set ASB as a priority for the city centre teams for the last few months as a result of feedback from local meetings, conversations with businesses and members of the public. This month city centre officers will be focusing on the bus station, Broad Street, Dudley Street, Lichfield Street and Queen Street. There has been a reduction in problems close to St Peter's Gardens and Wulfruna Street and this reduction in problems has been sustained (the shop remains closed). We are in regular contact with the ASB Team to offer support and reduce the incidents of behaviours that make people feel unsafe when they come into the city. There are civil powers we are able to use to help if the offer of pathways of support are not effective.

Uniformed officers from the city centre teams are busy responding to calls and investigating crimes - theft (mainly shoplifting) and assaults still remain core work for the officers and we have arrests on a daily basis.

We know we have key locations within the city where anti-social behaviour is more likely to occur. Our incident logs provide data to direct our patrols so we are in the right places at the right time. A Public Space Protection Order has been granted for the city centre to provide a long term approach to reducing incidents of anti-social behaviour that is committed by groups of people. Residents, visitors and businesses can enjoy a safer space without fear of confrontation.

Report anti-social behaviour so we are aware and can target our patrols. We are aware the locations can change where anti-social behaviour happens and this can depend on the time of year.

Violence against women and girls

As the nights get lighter, the weather warmer and more people head out, we recognise that we need to be focus our patrols around reducing violence in public places. A key part of this work is to reduce crime committed against women and girls, particularly at night.

This work has us patrol transport hubs together with our colleagues from Safer Travel and the British Transport Police. We focus on bus stops, taxi ranks, routes and car parks trying to offer reassurance by our presence.

It is important we target individuals who may pose a risk and ensure we are quick to respond if a crime is committed. The impact of these crimes can be devastating and have a long term impact.