ANYONE who's followed the debate about the police raid at the Warehouse might be interested to hear about the recent actions of West Cumbrian police.

Just two days before Lancashire Constabulary decided to burst into the Warehouse dressed in body armour, Detective Sergeant Cliff Walker of the West Cumbrian Police went public in the News & Star (May 23) under the banner headline "20 Dealers in Every Club" to explain that: "Anyone can go into a club and ask two or three people how to get hold of ecstasy and they won't have a problem finding it. You can virtually guarantee that in any busy club on a Friday or Saturday night there could be 20 to 30 people with tablets for sale. That is the culture these days."

Detective Sergeant Walker went on: "Twelve months ago it was not uncommon for us to find two or three people dealing 100 tablets on a Friday and Saturday night. Now it's 20 people dealing 10 or 15. Users are becoming dealers."

He finished with the statement: "You just have to go into any club on a Saturday night to see it."

To me, DS Walker sounds like a policemen making sensible judgements based on accurate intelligence and first hand experience.

He was also quoted in the News & Star last week (July 26) following a successful operation to arrest drug dealers in a nightclub. The headline read "Four dealers caught in undercover operation as cops and club bosses work together to drive out drugs."

During the operation, undercover policemen went into the nightclub dressed as clubbers and, if they were offered and sold drugs, the dealers were identified and later arrested at home.

The approach of our neighbouring constabulary in Cumbria seems eminently sensible and has proved successful without resorting to 80 officers in riot gear terrifying a lot of innocent people.

I would love to hear the views of other police officers on this matter. Are there any out there willing to comment?

Free thinker

(via e-mail)

Do readers think this comparison is a fair one and if not, why not? Write to our letter pages to get your voice heard. We welcome any submissions from the police too although we are mindful of potential court cases pending - Ed