APRIL has been a busy month across the force.

We completed Operation Valuable, which was a joint day of action by invitation of South Essex College in Grays, alongside Essex Police’s Raptor unit, British Transport Police, Wize-Up and Fearless.org.

The teams attended the college to educate about the use of drugs, as well as using dogs to combat any use or distribution of drugs.

The team completed a warrant in Ockendon after receiving information about a possibly prohibited breed of dog being at the location, and the dog was seized under the Dangerous dogs act.

We assisted Operation Raptor, our gang crime unit, with another warrant in Ockendon where a man was arrested for possession with intent to supply a class B drug.

A man was spotted on CCTV in Ockendon brandishing an offensive weapon in a public place. Our team attended and a short pursuit ensued, before he was detained and arrested by PCs Neil Brand and Natalie Malone.

PCSO Laura Coombes and I were investigating a potential crime scene in Grays on April 1 awaiting forensics when a man started smoking cannabis right next to us. The embarrassed man was issued a cannabis warning.

PCSOs Gary Woolford and Kelly Roberts were on Operation Sacrifice in Grays town centre on April 4, enforcing the new Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) that the Thurrock Community safety partnership has launched. One woman was arrested for assault and a man was arrested for breaching a court order.

A man who was wanted for three offences including burglary was arrested in Grays on April 5 after PCSOs Woolford and Roberts located the male with the assistance of the Grays Mall security team.

On April 6 we completed a warrant alongside the immigration department for a suspected brothel in Grays.

We assisted Thurrock Council’s “troubled families” department and youth leads from the Prevent and Support service with a partnership patrol in Grays on April 7, engaging with local youths and offering support and information.

On April 16 PC Cayless and PC Hatfield were on patrol in Chafford Hundred when they came across an abandoned and insecure vehicle near the train station. Information received suggested youths have been using the vehicle to meet and to congregate in. Inside the vehicle were two knives and drugs paraphernalia, which have been seized.

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