TV Tonight: Inside The Force follows Middlesborough Police Force

In this episode Middlesbrough Police Station’s officers face the daily stark reality of drug abuse in the town, which has one of the highest drug related death rates in Europe.

PCs Tash Nicholls and Nancie Mitten are called to an on-going domestic where a man is having a drug-induced psychotic episode after taking £400 worth of cocaine. Back-up arrives as the officers struggle to restrain the man, and three officers are left injured, with one female officer receiving a black eye.

On the ground floor in custody, Sergeant Dave Barker attempts to book in a man arrested on suspicion of drink driving. When the suspect was detained he assaulted officers by spitting at them so is put in a spit-hood to protect police. In custody it takes five officers to handle the man who growls and tells Dave he has taken over one hundred Valium pills.

Across town, PC Jordan Raper is out on patrol with a rookie officer. They stop and search a suspected drug dealer who, they believe, has thrown a bag over a fence containing Class A drugs, an extendable baton, pepper spray, ammonia acid, and large quantities of cash. Dealing with drugs on the streets is a common occurrence for Jordan, “The drug problem in Middlesbrough is massive and there’s also the violence that comes with it.” Back at the station the suspect is handed over to detectives for questioning.

A recent spate of thefts and robberies are attributed to the drug epidemic in Middlesbrough, and PC Mark Insull is tasked with bringing in a man suspected of stealing from a Royal Mail van. Mark knows the suspect well. As they watch CCTV of the theft the man concedes, “It looks an awful lot like me”, but adds, “when I’ve taken those tablets I wake up the next day and don’t know what I’ve done… those tablets are the curse of this town.” Just one week later, officers are called to the man’s address, a sudden death has been reported and it’s drug related.