A police chief has spoken out about how officers have moved to improve a troubled estate following the murder of a vulnerable drug user.
Ross Ball was killed by a gang of criminals who used his home to operate their illegal drug ring - paying him in crack cocaine, heroin and mamba.
The 42-year-old was murdered outside his home, in Langton Avenue, Sutton-in-Ashfield, on November 21, 2019.
Six men have been convicted of his murder, and a seventh of manslaughter, following a trial at Nottingham Crown Court on December 22.
All men were given lengthy prison terms of more than 20 years.
The estate in which Mr Ball lived - Carsic - has been hit by multiple incidents of drug-related crime and anti-social behaviour in the past.
There have been unrelated incidents of stabbings, residents being threatened and youths targeting people in the street.
Residents have even gone so far as describing the area as "like the Bronx" at times, describing scenes of gunshots and syringes on the ground, as well as "yobs" throwing glass bottles at residents.
However, for more than a year, officers at Nottinghamshire Police have been making efforts to bring down crime numbers on the estate.
The first sign of action was following a number of incidents in August 2019 - including a stabbing and one man being attacked with a golf club - leading to police naming Carsic a "priority area".
Since then, crime in the area has been considerably reduced and the community has rallied together online.
Inspector Mark Dickson, district commander for Ashfield, explained more about the situation on the estate.
He said: "The Carsic estate is quite a deprived area, and especially around the time of this case there was a high level of drug use and a lot of the low-level criminality that comes along with that.
“You tackle those sorts of issues by building trust with the community, really. It’s about being visible, engaging with people to find out about what’s going on so that you can disrupt it."
Following Mr Ball's murder, officers have set up a programme of work to ensure people do not fall into similar forms of crime.
The programme also aims to ensure no new gangs take hold of the area after Mr Ball's killers were locked up.
Inspector Dickson added: "The area will be safer with them off the streets.
"The violence they brought with them will be gone, and with all the work we’re doing now we’ll be able to identify any similar groups and tackle them before they get established in the area.
“We’re now doing a lot of early intervention to pull people away from potentially getting into that lifestyle.
"We have knife crime management plans, so anyone who is a risk for carrying a knife is engaged with and we can try to stop problems before they happen.
“We have a youth intervention programme, where anyone under the age of 18 who is found carrying a knife or drugs gets visits from the neighbourhood team, Operation Reacher and schools officers.
"It’s all about trying to divert people away from getting involved in crime.
"When that doesn’t work, we run a management meeting with all of our partners which looks at enforcement options and more enhanced engagement with those who need it.
"There’s a huge amount of work which goes on behind the scenes to try and prevent these issues from happening – there’s a big policing family around it.
"We also work really closely with local councils, charities, the Crown Prosecution Service – everyone we can to make sure we’re exploring all avenues available to us."
The inspector added that residents now tell officers their area "is a lot nicer place to live", and that people "don't feel scared like they did back then".
The work of officers has also been praised by Ashfield's MP Lee Anderson, who helped support Carsic residents when trouble came to a head in 2019.
He said: “Over the past year the residents on Carsic have really come together to work with myself and our local police to help tackle the ongoing crime and antisocial behaviour.
“With the introduction of the new Operation Reacher Team we're are now seeing a much more joined-up approach and residents have advised me they have been very impressed with the high visibility of Nottinghamshire Police on their estate.
“This good work has not happened overnight, the resilience of residents and a willingness to cooperate from our local Inspector Mark Dickson has meant our streets are now becoming much safer.
“I want to personally thank Christine Whitehead and Tray Greatorex of the Carsic Community Group who have been instrumental in bringing the community together to help tackle local crime.”
