Policing addiction: Why Tower Hamlets is spending big on enforcement amid a synthetic opioid crisis

With overdose deaths rising and dangerous new synthetic opioids seeping into the drug supply, Tower Hamlets is investing nearly £1 million in minimally trained enforcers. But is a high-vis, high-surveillance approach the best use of funds in a public health crisis?

In between the stately Tower Hamlets Town Hall and the cavernous Whitechapel station, a chaotic rush of street traders, delivery drivers, and drunk commuters buzzes as the evening arrives. Just around the corner, in the relative dark and quiet off the high street, rough sleepers have bedded down for the night in small tents and sleeping bags. 

At 10 pm, a group of men in yellow high-vis vests begin patrolling the street, wearing body cameras and sporting badges. They might tell the showy sports car revving by the curb to move it along, or ask the drunk couple arguing to quiet down. Sometimes, they will issue fines and take down personal details. They aren’t police – they are Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOs). 

A recent YouTube video by the Council shows the THEOs out on their daily runs – at one point, a few of them stand around a drug user, who is gesticulating with his hands. The shot is interspersed with edits of the THEOs shining flashlights around a dark garage. 

A THEO named Christian explains, ‘We had to attend a few locations where we found drug users. We did offer help, we did offer support. They refused, they said they don’t need any. 

We warn and advise they are disturbing the residents, we also advise them all the time to access the support in regards of the drug addiction, tenancy or a place to live.’ In the next scene, a different THEO shows how drug use and dealing is picked up on the Council’s state-of-the-art CCTV system. 

It’s not clear whether the THEOs are here to provide support for drug users or to police their presence. Given that drug users are understandably scared of getting arrested, is it possible to do both? Or does this hybrid role make the THEOs‘ jack of all trades, master of none’? 

More importantly, is policing a good strategy for fighting drug deaths, or could money be better spent elsewhere?

This question is especially pressing amidst a growing threat of nitazenes and other synthetic opioids infecting local drug supplies. 

Tower Hamlet’s Mayor Luftur Rahman is tough on crime

The constant presence of the THEOs, especially on this stretch of street by the Town Hall, symbolises Tower Hamlets’ policing-heavy strategy. 

This year, Tower Hamlets became the local authority to invest the most in policing, launching an ambitious ‘anti-crime’ taskforce. The task force includes drug-sweeping dogs, expanded CCTV, 64 THEOs and 26 Council-funded police officers. 

Mayor Lutfur Rahman said, ‘At a time when many councils have cut their budgets for tackling crime by millions, we are investing £8 million […]  leading the way in showing how councils can invest to make our communities safer.

Most recently, this strategy expanded into substance misuse, with nearly £1 million invested into a group of THEOs who will deal specifically with drug use as part of the Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP). 

The CDP is a forum of several agencies within the borough, including branches of the Council, the Tower Hamlets Metropolitan Police, the East London NHS Foundation Trust and Substance Misuse Treatment Providers. 

The forum works together to implement the national ‘From Harm to Hope’ ten-year strategy from the central government, which aims at ‘reducing the supply and demand for drugs and delivering a high-quality treatment and recovery system.’ 

Back in 2010, THEOs were introduced by the Council as a strategy to reduce anti-social behaviour (ASB) and increase the presence of uniformed patrollers in the borough. They have the legal power to issue fines and warnings related to ASB, and sometimes patrol along with police who then carry out arrests. 

The new substance-misuse taskforce of THEOs has been introduced partly due to significant cuts to the policing budget allocated to the borough by the Central government. 

Because policing funding from the central government has been reduced, the borough is concerned about a loss of drug policing. ‘We know the police have been running on reserves for around three years, the Metropolitan Police, they will be taking probably £450 to £500 million worth of cuts very soon’ says Councillor Abu Talha Chowdhury, the lead cabinet member for Safer Communities. ‘So when it comes to drugs, and the issue of drugs, what does that look like for us?’ 

While Tower Hamlets’ crime rates are below the average for London, its drug-related crime rates are high. In January 2021, it was London’s most dangerous area for drugs, recording 294 crimes at a rate of 0.80 per 1,000 daytime population. 

It’s not really a problem that we’re losing our police budget because we know that drug policing is not effective.

SHAYLA SCHLOSSENBERG, RELEASE

The Council will use THEOs to enforce laws where police are overstretched. Since April 2022, the THEOs have been credited with 415 arrests. In 2024, they patrolled the borough for a combined 29,500 hours and issued 2,357 fines for anti-social behaviour. 

This year’s Combating Drugs partnership budget invests £955,582 of the £6,576,321 budget into criminal justice (nearly 15%). The amount covers the new THEO drugs task force. While the Council feels investing in policing is necessary to tackle the drugs crisis, outreach charities are not as convinced. 

Shayla Schlossenberg, Head of Drugs Services at Release said, ‘It’s not really a problem that we’re losing our police budget because we know that drug policing is not effective.’ The Aldgate-based drug user support charity is one of many local and international organisations which argue that policing makes substance abuse harder to address, pushing users into the shadows and away from treatment. 

Minimally trained civilians are taking on expert outreach roles 

THEOs are partly intended as an outreach service. According to the Council, they ‘help anyone who needs support, such as people who are struggling with substance misuse and those who are sleeping rough.’ In Tower Hamlets, there are an estimated 3,613 opiate users.

Importantly, THEOs aren’t required to have any training in policing, social work or substance misuse outreach to be hired. Like parking wardens or other Council enforcers, they become accredited as ‘officers’ under the ‘Community Safety Accreditation Scheme.’ 

A Freedom of Information (FOI) request from the Slice showed that drug-related training material for THEOs consisted of two PowerPoint presentations, one on the referral system for drug users and one on ‘basic drug awareness.’ 

THEOs have also recently begun carrying naloxone, the life-saving antidote to an opioid overdose. However, according to the FOI results, there is no record of the THEOs being trained on how to use it.

THEOs presenting as enforcers could be pushing drug users away from treatment

THEOs help refer drug users to rehabilitation services, however, they are also responsible for giving them fines and warnings, or involving the police, who might arrest them. Their uniforms closely resemble police attire, and they often have police escorts. 

When asked if THEOs resembling law enforcement could be making it harder to connect drug users to rehabilitation services, Councillor Chowdhury said this was a ‘fair assessment.’

‘Some people will be reluctant to engage with the THEOs, but it’s just bolstering the number of people that we have out there to support people into treatment,’ Chowdhury said. 

Results of a Freedom of Information Request by the Slice show that in 2024, THEOs issued 87 drug-related ASB warnings and made 250 referrals to the Specialist Substance Misuse Team.  But how many of those referred actually enter treatment? 

According to the latest CDP, the percentage of drug users entering treatment varies depending on who has made the referral. If someone is referred by themselves, their friends or their families, the 2023/24 rate of uptake in Tower Hamlets is 52.50%. If someone is referred by health services or social care, the rate of uptake is 25.30%. When referred by Criminal Justice, uptake drops to just 9.80%. Based on these findings, that would mean that of the 250 referrals made by THEOs in 2024, only an estimated 24 people will have entered drug treatment. 

THEOs straddle a line between police and community outreach, potentially doing neither. Other substance misuse outreach teams wear plain clothes and don’t have police escorts, making building trust with drug users easier. A source from one such team told the Slice that involving the THEOs in drug outreach had been ‘a terrible idea,’ and that the THEO referral process ‘is not working.’

In-house services lack the scrutiny and impact measurement of specialist organisations

Funding for substance misuse recovery and outreach organisations is determined with a strict set of parameters to show impact. Local providers need to demonstrate a wide range of performance indicators, including how quickly patients get appointments, the number of patients who complete treatment and how much money is spent per patient. The bidding process for funding is competitive, meaning the pressure on improving services is high. 

However, THEOs don’t have funding competitors, and there are no apparent performance indicators to justify their involvement in the Combatting Drugs Partnership. 

When we spoke to the local drug rehabilitation provider, Change Grow Live, a spokesperson told the Slice that the biggest obstacle to delivering substance misuse support is ‘funding and uncertainty of funding.’ If money that could be allocated to rehabilitation services is being directed to THEOs instead, then THEOs should be assessed for their impact too.

A recent assessment of the UK-wide drug-crackdown Project Adder (which the THEOs are a part of) showed that so far it’s had no impact on local drug supply or drug-related offending. 

When asked for comment on whether synthetic opioids were a concern locally, the Tower Hamlets Metropolitan Police said, ‘The Metropolitan Police Central East Command Unit’s ‘Project ADDER’ team, and policing colleagues are working with Tower Hamlets Council and other partners to ensure local strategy and local preparedness. 

Through the Tower Hamlets Combating Drugs Partnership (CDP), local police and partners work to reduce all drug-related harm and combat illegal drugs in our region.  The CDP ensures that national strategy around synthetic opioids is delivered in a local context, and that a preparedness plan for Tower Hamlets is in place.’

The efficacy of punitive approaches for fighting the drug-deaths crisis has been widely questioned. Many experts argue that investment in law enforcement is not an effective way to fight the drug deaths crisis, and that money is better spent on rehabilitation and treatment. 

Given the low uptake from Criminal Justice referrals to treatment services and the rising use of synthetic opioids, the expansion of THEOs as part of the CDP budget suggests a strategic preference for criminal enforcement over public health approaches, despite questionable effectiveness.

Tower Hamlets’ THEO-led crackdown may project a sense of order, but its impact on drug deaths remains uncertain. Critics warn that blending enforcement with outreach risks undermining both. The training THEOs receive, both in law enforcement and social work, is minimal. In addition, it’s not clear how the impact of the THEOs on drug-related harm is going to be measured.

With one of the highest levels of opioid users in London, new dangerous synthetic opioids such as nitazenes are of particular concern in Tower Hamlets. The number of opioid users accessing treatment in the borough is rising, but it is still low compared to national trends. And substance misuse services remain overwhelmed with high case-loads, staff retention, and an increased risk of mortality for drug users. 

This leaves one pressing question: whether THEOs represent the most effective, or even ethical, use of public money.

A spokesperson for Tower Hamlets Council said:

‘The allocation of funding for Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOs) is determined through the Council’s annual budget-setting process, which considers service needs, community safety priorities, and available resources. The recent growth funding of £550,000 was approved as part of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy at the Full Council meeting in February 2025. This funding supports the creation of a dedicated drug squad comprising six THEOs and a Team Leader.

‘The decision to establish this substance misuse-specific taskforce was made to strengthen our response to visible drug use and associated anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the borough. This initiative forms a key part of the Anti-Crime Taskforce — a multi-disciplinary team that includes THEOs, council-funded police officers, a Dog Patrol Unit, and Noise Enforcement Officers. The taskforce is designed to deliver enforcement, engagement, and intelligence-gathering functions to tackle crime and ASB in our communities.

‘Recruitment for the drug squad drew from experienced officers within the Public Protection and Integrated Enforcement Service. Applicants were assessed on their enforcement experience, understanding of ASB legislation, partnership working with police, and their ability to engage with the Substance Misuse Team.’

Read our investigative series from the start The arrival of an invisible killer: Is Tower Hamlets ready for Nitazenes?