Operation Canary

The recent influx of Polish immigrants into the Berkshire town of Slough has had a significant impact on local policing. Slough area commander Chief Supt Brian Langston talks to Police Professional about how his officers dealt with some very unique policing challenges and the wider lessons for the service.

The decision to allow ten new countries, including Poland, to join the European Union three years ago has had huge implications on policing the Berkshire town of Slough.

EU enlargement prompted up to 12,000 Polish immigrants to move to Slough – a predominantly industrial town best immortalised by John Betjeman’s poem ‘Come Friendly Bombs’ and more latterly the setting for the comedy The Office – causing very real policing challenges for officers from Thames Valley Police. The reason for this huge influx lies in the fact that is there is already a large settled Polish population in the town. Polish immigrants have been going there to live and work since after World War Two.

Its close proximity to Heathrow Airport and the fact that it is home to one of the biggest trading estates in Europe have both proved popular draws. Walk around the streets of Slough and one will see the impact and influence the Polish residents have had in a very short space of time. There has been a large growth in Polish shops selling traditional Polish food and Polish language newspapers, and Polish numberplates are visible on cars driving up and down the busy streets.

However, organised gangs have been exploiting this situation by orchestrating scams that promise people in Poland a new life with a home and job in Slough if they pay up to £300 cash. The unsuspecting residents then board a cheap flight to Heathrow and are dropped off in Slough by the gang members, left with no money and no home. When they discover that they are alone in a strange country and town and that the only accommodation they are offered is squalid, disease-ridden hovels, they are then coerced into the trafficking gang, or tempted to carry out local crime such as burglary and theft, just to survive.

“On the face of it, we are talking about crimes that are relatively low-value deceptions which, individually, are not high up on the scale of the policing priorities,” said Slough’s area commander Chief Supt Brian Langston. “But it’s only when you look at the scale of the scams collectively that you realise it’s part of a larger pattern of crime that is far more serious than at first seems.”

The problem is a complex one in that while residents are initially victims having unsuspectingly been enticed over to Slough – they then turn to a life of crime and become the offender.

“The victims take the attitude that ‘well I’m here and I need to earn a living and my only way out is to join the cartel of scammers that tricked me in the first place.’”

Local crime figures show that this has resulted in 150 offences a year in Slough alone. Police believe this is just the tip of the iceberg and that the problem is far more serious. Their response was to launch Operation Canary, an initiative which focused on both preventing further crimes taking place and using intelligence to tackle crime once they have occurred.

Officers from Slough visited Poland to launch a television and radio campaign designed to warn residents about the scam and show them pictures of the squalid conditions they were likely to face if they arrived in the town with no accommodation or job. The campaign received a favourable response with many residents who had considered travelling to Slough to live and work thinking twice about making the journey.

“We had to think carefully about how to present our message to the Polish people because what we weren’t doing was trying to deter people from coming to Slough,” Chief Supt Langston explained.

“The town has a very proud Polish heritage. There is a Polish church here and a thriving community that has traditionally contributed greatly to the cosmopolitan feel of Slough as a town. Ou