EXCLUSIVE Top police chiefs say smell of cannabis is a 'sign of crime' that can make even them feel 'unsafe'... and frontline officers should 'do something about it'
The country's longest-serving chief constable admits the smell of the drug is a 'sign of crime and disorder' which makes even him 'feel unsafe'.
Sir Andy Marsh, who leads the College of Policing, said frontline officers should 'do something about it'.
He is backed by Greater Manchester Police Chief Sir Stephen Watson and Merseyside Chief Constable Serena Kennedy.
In a joint intervention following recent calls for decriminalisation, they tell future police leaders they must listen to their communities and be prepared to take a tougher line.
Launching a new leadership programme for policing, they acknowledged forces were in a 'foot race for public confidence' and officers can no longer ignore what has traditionally been perceived as the 'little stuff'.
Sir Andy, who is the officer in charge of police standards, said: 'In my community, my kids are too frightened to use the bus stop because it always stinks of cannabis.'
He told the Mail 'policing is about creating an environment that people feel safe in' and said: 'I'm speaking from personal experience and people I talk to, if I walk through a town, city, or even village centre and I smell cannabis, it does actually have an impact on how safe I feel.
'One definition of what police should be doing is – [if] something [is] happening which does not feel right, someone ought to do something about it.'
He added: 'For me, the smell of cannabis around communities, it feels like a sign of crime and disorder.'
The call for action comes after figures on Sunday revealed that three in four people caught with the drug last year were let off with an informal warning or community resolution.
In the year to September 2024, 68,513 people were found in possession of cannabis, but only 17,000 were charged, according to data released under Freedom of Information laws.
Mayor of London Sir Sadiq Khan has called for the decriminalisation of possession when it involves small amounts of the drug.
But recently judges have warned that cannabis is 'not a benign drug' after a series of horrific cases, including a samurai sword rampage in Hainault, east London, where a schoolboy was killed and four others seriously injured by a drug-crazed Brazilian who had a £100-a-day habit.
The head of Merseyside Police said of cannabis: 'The public should absolutely expect us to take positive action around those things and hold us to account over it.
'We have to work with our communities, it's no longer good enough to inflict priorities on them, we have to hear their voices and make them part of the problem-solving.'
In Greater Manchester, Sir Stephen tells his officers not to ignore the 'little things' that make people feel unsafe.
'This is the so-called lower level stuff, but actually it really isn't lower level stuff in the sense that this is where the public take their cues as to how safe or otherwise they feel, and how effective or otherwise is policing,' he said.
Sir Stephen revealed a new 'executive leadership programme' was teaching future chief constables that they don't just need business skills and political acumen.
He said: 'We are seeking to equip people, not just to deal with a critical incident which takes on national significance and has the potential to damage trust and confidence in policing, but also to recognise that on day-to-day watch, some of the stuff at the basic end of the market absolutely has to be done.
'The public aren't going to give us top marks for being brilliant at investigating murder alone. They expect us to be a full-spectrum organisation and that is what we are seeking to inspire in those who come forward for this course.'
He added: 'We are very acutely aware that we are in a foot race for public confidence at the moment and there is a lot of concern at its lowest, and perhaps visceral criticism at its highest, where there is a gap between what the public expect of the police and what they are getting.'
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