Police flood Sheffield city centre to crack down on drug use and antisocial behaviour

The new ‘Operation Steel’, aims to target criminality across the city after an increase in anti social behaviour and drug use since the return of life to the city centre post-lockdown.

Retail and hospitality workers who are now back at work say they are facing anti social behaviour on a daily basis.

Officers wanted to reassure residents and workers that they are there to protect them and that they will be ‘targeting the people that are bringing criminality to our streets’ during a month long campaign.

“Whilst we want one element of normality, the other one we don’t,” said City Centre Sergeant Jon Simpson, who was orchestrating the operation across hotspot areas such as Castle Square, Fargate and the Cathedral.

“Operation Steel is an umbrella title for our day today.

"One of the key principles is to give a visible presence of officers for residents in the city and people working in the city centre, giving the reassurance and creating a safe environment for the public.

"But the flipside is that we want to create somewhat of a less comfortable environment for the people that we don’t want in the city, people that are bringing criminality and anti-social behaviour.”

He also wanted to highlight the importance of approachability when it comes to the public and wants the force to have transparency about why there is such a large police presence at a particular time.

“We need to speak to people and promote our presence – why are we here? What are we doing? We need to get that message through.

"We are in a position where sometimes people won’t want to approach the police, they may have had a bad experience with us in the past, or have a negative perception.

"We are not just about the force, we are also here to support vulnerable people in our city.”

This month the operation is focusing specifically on the city centre and issues such as criminal behaviour and drug use, specifically the use of spice.

In future months the force will target issues such as modern slavery and domestic abuse, visiting different parts of the city.

The multifaceted operation included the use of a passive sniffer dog, specially recruited from the West Midlands, and had extremely successful results, with three arrests around the Castle Square area by 9.30am.

"This operation isn’t the first operation that we have run of this nature,” added Sgt Simpson.

"The scale of it and the multifaceted nature of it is slightly different, but in the last 12-18 months, taking Covid out of the equation, these days have proved really popular with the retail sector because they feel safe and secure that the policing presence is out there, and residents associations say that it is noticeable when we have a large police presence and it is really well received.

"Interestingly, the criminal side of it too, as they feel uncertain by it and feel disrupted.

"That is exactly what we are trying to achieve: we want to be unpredictable.

"We can deploy these assets at any given time during a month, and that is the plan going forward.”

Chief Superintendent Una Jennings, Sheffield's new District Commander, was strongly behind the new operation.

She said in a briefing at Snig Hill: “The measure of any society is how you treat those most vulnerable and I would say we have never lived through a time, in this Covid circumstance, where that has been more apt.”

She added: "I often say that Sheffield is a place that deserves the very best that policing has to offer and I am confident that that is what we get here in this city.”

The September 24 operation also involved visiting businesses to inform them of the police force’s support, and handing out leaflets outlining what Operation Steel was, and why there were so many officers suddenly roaming specific areas of the city centre, including plain clothes officers.

Chief Inspector Gareth Thomas said: "We are able to use other departments, in particular our serious violent crime task force who have come in to the area.

“We have also got a plain clothes contingency, so they will be in and amongst the people of Sheffield, but we are able to pull in those resources to use them as a tasking resource for the city today.

“If I was living in Sheffield, I would want to know that my police force is doing things to tackle what matters for that community – and that is the whole ethos around Operation Steel, it is about strengthening communities, listening to what they are telling us.

"The issues relate to anti-social behaviour, drug use, and the use of spice in particular, and homelessness and begging.

"We are not only trying to resolve those issues but assist and protect those vulnerable people who are being targeted by offenders.

"People feel reassured, they see a lot of officers on the streets and appreciate the protection that will give them.

“Members of the public that come into the city centre, it gives them a feeling of security because people see the cops and see that they are out there protecting the vulnerable and targeting the people that are bringing criminality to the streets of Sheffield.”