Al Thomas, from Newham Council community safety, looks on Freemason's Road during enforcement day

Newham neighbourhoods to be blitzed in new enforcement crackdown

by Pat Coughtrey, News Editor Thursday, September 27, 2012
1:00 PM

Neighbourhoods in Newham are to be targeted for more joint enforcement operations after the success of Operation Ohio in Custom House..

It resulted in three people being arrested for drug possession, 21 cars removed for no tax and 139 people being ordered to clear waste from their front gardens which can be torched by potential arsonists as well as being unsightly.•

Items seized included a large quantity of snuff, chewing & Shisha tobacco where duty was evaded, 2,058 DVD’s and 24 counterfeit lighters. a small amount of food – not date marked - was seized with notices served by food safety. Alcohol was also discovered in a shop which did not have a licence to sell.

Mayor Sir Robin Wales and lead council members were briefed on location during the operation about issues identified by officers and possible solutions.

Police were joined by Newham Council’s community Safety Team for the exercise.

Intelligence was shared between those involved as it happened and was acted upon quickly.

Penalties were enforced.

Offences tackled ranged from school truancy, disabled parking badge abuse, car tax evasion, dogs not kept on a lead, drug possession and littering.

Such was the success of what was a two-day pilot operation earlier this month the Metropolitan Police and other agencies will now take it across the borough following detailed analysis of how it worked.

Action was taken against dozens of offences and the feedback from residents was strong, said Newham Council this week.

Combined with Operation Hawk, the Metropolitan Police initiative to target drug dealers, this means people flouting the law will face tough penalties, their statement added.

Sir Robin Wales praised Operation Ohio as a major success that “sent out the clear signal that crime and anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated in our community.”

“I heard directly from overwhelmingly positive residents that they wanted us to increase our enforcement work so that’s exactly what we’re doing,” he said.