Rat on a rat
Drug addiction fuels crime and ruins lives. Addicts desperate for cash to feed their drug habit break into peoples homes and cars, steal from shops, and pick pockets. Drug users, their families, victims of crime, and whole communities suffer the effects of drug use and the dealers are cashing in on that suffering.
Help us to stop drug dealers ruining lives - rat on a rat!
Help us to come down hard on dealers by giving us names and information on any drug dealing in your area. Call Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. All calls to Crimestoppers are anonymous, you will never be asked for your name and your call will not be traced or recorded.
What information do I need to provide?
When you ring it would be helpful if you could provide us with any of the following information:
- names and addresses of those involved,
- where you suspect the drug dealing is taking place,
- the reasons for your suspicions, such as seeing lots of drug litter around a property,
- car registration numbers
- any other information you think would be useful.
What will we do with the information you provide?
The information you provide will be passed on to Greater Manchester Police. They will not have any of your details and won't know who gave the information so they will not call at your house of contact you. They will investigate the person, property, or area based on the information you provide and gather evidence of the dealing. When they have enough evidence they will arrest the drug dealer and he will be prosecuted.
The process of following up the information you give, gathering evidence against the offender and making an arrest takes time. It will take around 3 months from the Police receiving the information to them being able to make an arrest.
How to spot a drug dealer
Possible signs of drug dealing include:
- high numbers of visitors to one property,
- visitors to a property stopping for short periods,
- individuals approaching parked cars for very short periods,
- drug litter (such as needles and syringes, dirty spoons, and tin foil) found close to a suspected location,
- excessive noise or rowdy incidents near a suspected location.
Tackling drugs changing lives 2008 campaign 19 - 23 May
The Rat on a rat campaign has been running for 5 years and Crimestoppers has received thousands of calls reporting suspected drug dealers. We are using the Tackling drugs changing lives 2008 week of action as an opportunity to promote the campaign locally.
The week of action
Big Bird and a giant billboard were in Wigan town centre for the first day of the week of action. Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) handed out leaflets and advice alongside the drugs team. The Billboard then went on a tour of the whole Borough spreading the rat on a rat message.
Following it's stint on Market square on monday 19th may, Big Bird, our large electronic message board was in Leigh Town Centre on tuesday 20th may and outside Wigan Fire station on friday 23rd.
A leaflet advertising the campaign was distributed in the Wigan and Leigh Reporter to homes across the Borough. The Probation service delivered leaflets to those homes that don't receive the free newspaper.
The leaflet contains details of the possible signs of drug dealing, what information to provide to Crimestoppers, and the number to call to rat on a rat. It also contains the numbers to call if you or a loved one needs help with a drug or alcohol problem.
What else did we do?
Posters were distributed across the Borough and a press release was issued to promote the campaign.
Download a copy of our poster:
Visit our news pages to view the press release:
Other activities included:
- For four weeks from the 12th May the Rat on a rat campaign was advertised inside 120 buses around the Borough.
- An advert was included in the Wigan evening post and on their website.
- School Based Police Officers worked with children to highlight the dangers of drugs and drug dealers.
For more information about the Rat on a rat campaign contact the Drug and Alcohol action team.
