GANGS from London are using Southend as a drug dealing playground, says the town’s top policeman.

Chief Insp Simon Anslow revealed convicted dealers were moving into the town from outside Essex, with probation officers not keeping police informed.

He believes the dealers are responsible for the crimewave which has caused chaos in the town and left residents in some areas afraid of venturing out after dark.

Unveiling a new strategy to deal with the problem, which will involve intelligence sharing between forces, Mr Anslow said: “We have not got Southend born and bred gangs.

“But this is aimed at stopping what’s already happening and preventing the kind of thing in the big cities where there is a whole world of people being involved in gangs from an early age.

“We, like other coastal towns such as Clacton and Margate, are examples of seaside areas seen as a destination from London. They are used as county lines for London gang dealers and then we get the violence down here.”

Convicted dealers have previously moved into the town without probation services informing police, it has been revealed.

Police say this leaves them on the back foot as offenders can bring with them dealers and gang warfare.

The new strategy is aimed at not only minimising the impact the London gangs are having on the town, but also preventing the emergence of home-grown gangs.

It has been put together by the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate and follows two drugrelated murders, plus a number of other stabbings in the town.

The new strategy will look at police forces in London sharing information with Essex, particularly the Metropolitan police, to understand who is affiliated with gangs and what they are doing.

Mr Anslow said: “If someone has been rehoused or moves out to Southend we need to know where they are. Historically you might have people who have been convicted of drug dealing in London, but then move to Southend and we have no idea.”

Essex Police will collect information from other forces about who is active and dealing. Plus information from probation, housing associations and the Department for Work and Pensions to get a picture of who is working in the area.

The information will be fed to Southend CID’s operation booth team, which proactively acts on drug dealing and producing intelligence.

Mr Anslow added: “Drug related violence is effectively what I want to focus on.” Alex Osler, deputy chief executive who leads offender management for the south of Essex said probation services in the east of England were in the process of being taken over by Sodexo, which would provide an opportunity for Essex to share its good communication practices with other areas.

He said: “We are fortunate to have an excellent relationship with our colleagues in Essex Police, sharing intelligence and information where appropriate, so as to enhance public protection in this county.

“Previously Essex Probation, now known as Essex Community Rehabilitation Company (Essex CRC), we move forward with new private owners Sodexo, and we anticipate that our joint work in protecting the public will be maintained at the same high standard.”

Southend Council said offenders were generally housed in privately rented accommodation as the majority were single males who score low on the priority scale. Those from outside the area would be even lower down the list.

PRAISE FOR NEW PLANS FROM COPS

PRAISE for the police has come from those living in Southend’s most prolific area for drugs and violence.

Keith Kelsey, chairman of the Association for the Residents of Kursaal said families are too scared to let their children outside in the ward, which includes notorious York Road. But he hopes this will change.

He said: “Most trouble that happens around here is by people who don’t have a Southend postcode.

“Southend attracts people from outside the area as they know the police won’t always have the intelligence on them, and there are lots of visitors who they can ply their trade on. This is not welcome by any of us.

“It is good the police are thinking outside the box. I applaud them.”

Violent crime soared in 2014

LAST year saw a staggering rise in violent crime, which police in Southend say they are starting to get a grip on.

In July, Hassan Mohammed Ibrahim, 26, from Peckham, London, was fatally stabbed in York Road, Southend.

Subsequently, six people have been charged with murder, with four of them in their teens.

Four of them are from outside the area.

In November, Anton Levine, 24, from Dagenham, was fatally stabbed in the leg in St Anns Road, Southend. Police believed both offences were not random attacks, but said they were keeping their options open about whether they were related to drugs.

In September a 17-year-old boy was shot in the leg with a BB gun, and a man in his twenties was stabbed in the groin, both in York Road, Southend.

High profile drugs bust Operation Erasure saw 47 people arrested in connection with drugs supply in Southend, with a number of people from outside the area charged.

There were 605 more violent crimes recorded between December 1, 2013, and November 30, 2014, compared to the year before – an increase of 21 per cent.

Serious violent crime, which includes grievous bodily harm and murder, is now up by 10.2 per cent, with offences rising from 141 to 128 in the last year. But earlier in the year figures showed a 20 per cent increase.

Chief Insp Simon Anslow, said his neighbourhood policing team was “making headway”.