Cannabis factories and kids in balaclavas: Slough police urge 'public health' approach to curb crime

A ‘public health approach’ is needed to help stop Slough’s problems with knife and drug crime, say police.

This week, a council meeting heard how the force had ‘disrupted cannabis factories’ and combatted children running riot in balaclavas.

But to prevent reoffenders and young people engaging in crime, policy that considered education and rehabilitation would be required.

At Tuesday’s corporate improvement and scrutiny committee, Thames Valley Police chief inspector Ash Smith warned ‘we can’t arrest our way out of knife crime’.

He said that while police were tackling drug offenders – including ‘homegrown’ dealers – work was needed that stretched beyond enforcement.

Councillors at the meeting discussed an update on the Slough Safer Partnership – a joint mission between the local authority, police and other community groups to stop criminality and disorder.

On issues with young people and knife crime, Mr Smith said:

“In May 2023 we had groups of children wearing balaclavas running around the streets of slough trying to harm each other so we had to act quickly.

“We drew up a list of six to eight young people who were most concerned were going to be involved in serious violence or come to harm themselves.”

Mr Smith said Operation Cuba, an ongoing police initiative to crack down on knife crime, had been successful and police had seen a 90 per cent reduction in the numbers of these young offenders.

However, he added: “It’s going to take time and we can’t arrest our way out of knife crime, we need to educate but we also have to consider – as a partnership – is around prevention which has to start at an early age.

“There will be people that we’re dealing with who we probably could have predicted at the age of around one or two were going to cause harm in the future.”

Councillor Subhash Mohindra (Upton, Cons) questioned what action police were taking to combat drug and knife crime – which he said were often linked.

Police had specialist investigation teams that were tackling ‘homegrown’ drug dealers, Mr Smith said.

“We have also recently disrupted drug factories that are growing in Slough,” he said.

“You’ve heard of county drug lines, I don’t think we have a massive issue with county drug lines coming into Slough but we do have homegrown people who are potentially using a phone to deal drugs.”

In response, Cllr Mohindra said: “Slough is an exporter of drugs - I understand- not an importer drugs.

“That’s what I was told last time in a meeting with one of your [police] leaders, how are you addressing that?”

Mr Smith said he could not comment on what was being exported from Slough or as figures were not yet available.

He added: “We also need to look at the public health approach around drugs - there needs to be a rehabilitation that we [police] can’t do on our own.”