Covent Garden London
The heart of London's West End
Project Lilac
We're all tickled pink, but it works! The first cross-border anti-drugs initiative by the Metropolitan Police to 'crack' the spiralling drugs problems in London's West End has now officially commenced. The operation is funded by a special £2M Home Office grant and is due to last a minimum of 18 months.
The project is staffed by officers, drawn from both Camden and Westminster, based at West End Central Police Station. The team consists of 12 PCs, 2 sergeants and an inspector and includes intelligence (sic) officers, arresting officers and patrolling officers. They will work closely with crime prevention officers, Camden and Westminster councils, local health authorities and drug action teams.
The idea behind the project is to bring the two adjoining Police divisions together and work as one team, offering professional help to addicts, in an attempt to reduce the market. Rather than chopping away at the individual parts of the drugs trade in the West End, this operation intends to get to its roots, whilst at the same time ripping out its branches.
One problem, that has already become very noticeable, is the displacement. Project Lilac only covers a small part of the Covent Garden area and the drug users simply move into the surrounding streets and doorways. Lilac's response to date: "It will get worse before it gets better".
However, signs that indicate some small improvements are beginning to emerge. During its first few weeks of operating, a huge number of arrests has already been made, many of known dealers and people 'wanted' by the Police for other reasons.
The CGCA is represented on the Community Reference Group, which meets regularly to evaluate the Project. This is likely to be helpful, as a lack of achievement on the part of the Project would lead to the Home Office being urged to withdraw the funding.
The Project is currently evaluated by the community in terms of its successes or failures. Since Lilac started on 4/9/2000, 243 arrests have been made. These include:
- 47 - supply of drugs
- 68 - possession of drugs
- 12 - violence & possession of a weapon
- 33 - theft & robbery
- 38 - wanted on other matters
- 9 - immigration matters
- 34 - other incidents.
In addition to the impressive arrest figures, Lilac has 18 environmental projects running and has carried out 110 substantial visits in the community. Officers have also stopped & searched 772 persons, stopped another 629, and issued 65 formal warnings, mainly for possession of cannabis.
Lilac depends to a great extent on intelligence from members of the public. If you think you have information about the drugs trade around Charing Cross Road, St Giles and Soho, please telephone Project Lilac with details of the place and time of the alleged crimes.
- Project Lilac
- Freephone 0800 085 0670
- Met Police
- Evening Standard, 16/11/2000
- also read a CGCA eye witness account of an under cover anti-drugs operation here.
© Covent Garden Community Association, November 2000
[ Home | About | Advice | Cartoons | Contact | Gallery | Handbook | Links | News | Newsletters | Sponsors ]
We recommend using this site with Firefox plus the Google Toolbar.