Communities against Drugs

The Safer Guildford Partnership recognises the significance of illegal drugs in relation to crime.

People do not automatically make the link between burglaries and the need to steal to buy drugs but this was dramatically brought home when the eight most prolific Guildford burglars in 2001 were imprisoned : They were all heroin addicts.

Guildford has particular drugs problems. They are comparatively cheap and caused 11 deaths in 2001. Around 25% of burglaries and a small spate of knife-point robberies are linked to drug takers. A recent successful operation saw the robber caught, convicted and sent to prison. The highest number of people arrested and referred to ACORN, the Community Substance Misuse Team in Surrey came from Guildford Custody Centre.

Drugs are on the increase and top level suppliers are getting more difficult to target.

The Strategy 2002-2005

• To arrest at least 15 suppliers of Class A Drugs each year

• To reduce substantially the number of drug related deaths