Drugs and Gangs

At the recent council meeting in Ipswich, councillors put aside their political differences and voted unanimously to give priority to the ongoing fight against drug dealing which blights many parts of Ipswich. The recent University of Suffolk Report on Gangs highlighted the escalation of violence in recent months with stabbings and gunfire between rival gangs from the Jubilee Park area and Nacton Road. Increasing numbers of drug runners from London, known as County Lines, seem to be the main problem as dealers fight to control the supply of heroin and crack cocaine. A new multi-agency task force has been established and Suffolk Police, Suffolk County Council and Ipswich Borough Council have all committed additional resources. As Superintendent Cutler told the meeting, in her experience, the majority of crime in the town stems from the trade in drugs. But at a prior presentation to the Council, a warning was given that community engagement was essential to the success of the task force. All Ipswich residents need to be united in their determination to rid the town of these gangs.

This does not alter the fact that the Liberal Democrats want a fundamental reform of drugs laws to undermine the gangs as explained in this speech by Liberal Democrat MP Norman Lamb.