Local pubs across West Kent are working with Kent Police to help keep their venues and communities safe and drug-free. The collaboration is part of an ongoing, proactive effort to combat drug use in licensed establishments.
Last Friday, Kent Police’s licensing, community safety, and canine teams visited six pubs in the Tonbridge & Malling and Sevenoaks areas. The visits included swab tests and searches with police dogs, and police used the opportunity to speak with both staff and customers.
Chief Inspector Omid Changizi said:
‘This kind of operation is an important opportunity to get out in the community and engage with residents, and Friday’s visits were very well received by all customers and staff. Whilst officers found no drugs in their searches, this is a testament to the success of our targeted effort to keep pubs drug-free. Furthermore, toilet swabs in two venues now showed no trace of drugs compared to previously positive results. This is a great sign that our work in this area is paying off.’