"Our mandate is to deal with anti-social behaviour ? public order. It's not drugs," says Police Support Unit leader Inspector Steve Donnelly.

But whatever the intentions, the street enforcers of the PSU are in no doubt about the critical role they play in clamping down on corner dealers. Riding in the new spacious purpose-built PSU vans it seems unlikely we are going to catch any criminals unawares. In many ways this is not the point.

Inspector Donnelly says the big white vans are highly visible and cheering for those who want to see the Police out in force.

"These vans are big and cumbersome, they can't really chase anything if they don't stop for us."

Asked if it wouldn't be better to dispense with the van for some jobs he said:

"They have lookouts all over the place, it's very hard to get to places."

Just seconds after telling me this one such scout barks out a warning to two men lurking in a door way in Elliott Street.

The van speeds up and screeches to a halt as one of the men revs his bike and attempts a getaway.

Without a word the van empties and the biker is rooted to the spot as four Policemen pounce on him as his front wheel shoots into the air while he desperately revs the engine.

It is a brave, decisive and instinctive reaction from the team but the drama is not over as the biker's cohort sprints off around the block, pursued by the men from the other PSU van.

The young man is caught in a yard in Union Street and seems relaxed about the situation despite being pinned to the floor and handcuffed. He keeps protesting his innocence and claims he ran because his uncle had taken off and he felt he should follow suit.

A search of the area by officers and the sniffer dogs reveals nothing but the suspect is taken in for questioning.

He has given a false name ? that of one of the Island's top tennis players ? but back at the Police station he doesn't know how to spell it. A different name is eventually offered up. A search reveals no drugs on him but officers suspect he threw whatever he had while hotfooting it around the block.

However the older man is found to have around $150 of cannabis on him.

It's a good start to the night for the PSU team who predicted the cool weather would keep many of the criminals at home.

Indeed the jails at Hamilton Police station are unusually empty for a Friday night. Normally Warwick Camp is opened over the weekend to take the over-spill.

However after the adrenaline rush of arrests, comes the tedium of filling in paperwork.

Inspector Donnelly hoped the process would take 20 minutes but in the end it takes far longer and ties down the whole team. By law the arresting officers must handle the paperwork themselves and splitting the two vans can leave one van vulnerable if a major public order incident breaks out and the men find themselves outnumbered.

In the control room is Inspector Robin Sherwood, watch commander for the island.

He will decide how to deploy officers and must sift out revenge calls from people either trying to lure Police cars to where they might be bricked or send them on wild goose chases.

Trivial calls from the public can also waste time and tie up officers.

It is not uncommon for people to call to ask the time or to ask Police to get a neighbour to turn music down because they can't be bothered to do it themselves.

Occasionally people confuse 911 with directory enquiries and even Belco.

Accidental calls from cell phones which have been jogged into making a pre-set 911 call, which the cell phone owner is oblivious to, is another nuisance Police operators have to deal with.

Sorting out minor accidents also ties up Police.

Police have come in for criticism for not nailing street corner dealers who never seem to move from their spot. But catching them is not as simple as it appears.

Dealers will be protected by lookouts and decoy runners who will distract Police while cohorts hide drugs and money.

Organised criminals won't make the mistake of having someone hold both cash and narcotics and will employ others to fetch drugs and change money.

Court Street and its surrounds provides an ideal location for dealers who have a central location with multiple exits, bolt holes and corners to place look-outs, say Police, although the same could be said of most cities around the world.

And the public are reluctant to let Police set up observation points in their houses for fear of retribution, including damage to the house. "You very rarely get people who do that but that would be ideal," said Insp. Donnelly.

Just then a call comes about a drug seller outside The Spinning Wheel. We move off but the suspect has gone by the time the vans arrive. A few searches of loiterers are made but it turn up nothing.

Inspector Donnelly said co-operation from bars and nightclubs in that area could be improved. "There are clientele who cause trouble on a weekly basis but they are still allowed to go there.

"And yet when they cause trouble the owners call us and expect us to deal with it. They should be a bit more selective on who they let in."

Next up is a visit to Southampton Rangers which last week yielded a crack find ? dropped by someone on a motorbike.

The scene looks far from promising as we approach as there are only a few cars in the car park. But the sharp-eyed PSU team spot a runner and give chase. He is found hiding by the bleachers at the back of the club but again the suspicion is he has hurled his contraband rather than risk get caught with it.

Another patron is found hiding in the women's cubicle toilet by dog handler P.c. Denise Downey and he admits he has flushed his drugs down the toilet and is arrested for warrants for robbery.

Another man is arrested for drug possession.

Next on the agenda is a visit to Somerset Bridge Recreation Club.

Trips to the west end are problematic, says Insp. Donnelly.

"Around drug areas they is always someone with a cell phone. As soon as the police go by they just press a number ? Police on the way.

"We get calls of drug dealing in Royal Naval Field, we go down in our van by the time we get to Somerset Bridge they know we are coming. Every time we go there it's a ghost town. Yet five minutes before apparently it is swarming with people."

However Somerset Bridge Recreation Club is definitely on the itinerary with recent raids yielding drugs.

The DJ heralds the Police's arrival but he can't be heard in the basement.

In a scruffy room around the back drugs are found on the floor while a group of around five men sit round chatting. An adjacent shed also reeks of marijuana smoke.

One man is arrested with bags of marijuana while another has a tiny amount and an outstanding warrant.

The work is made much easier by the presence of P.c. Downey's sniffer dog which can effortlessly pick up individuals scents.

Whereas the human nose will smell a stew, the dog can smell each ingredient, she explains. Thus drug carriers hoping to mask the drugs can't hope to confuse the dog by drenching themselves with another odour.

And she kills the myth that sniffer dogs are motivated by the desire to inhale drugs they have become addicted to. In truth the dogs never ingests drugs and her dog is only motivated with a reward of briefly chomping on a tennis ball.

He is also trained to chomp on criminals if they cut up rough.

With five arrests it is now time to head back to Hamilton to book the prisoners in but the PSU have to join the queue as the night gets busier.

During the lull Insp. Donnelly explains that street arrests can be yield substantial finds. Recently his team picked up a man carrying $5,000 worth of heroin.

Some of the excuses suspects come out are comical. Insp. Donnelly recalls a recent suspect found with his trousers stuffed full of drugs ? 30 small crack rocks and two huge ones - who claimed he had found the trousers and decided to wear them.

The work puts the team in danger every night however the introduction of laws stipulating minimum three-year sentences for people unlawfully carrying knives and machetes has calmed things down.

Our driver for the night, Pc Graham Bird, said: "That's definitely made a difference, there's a lot fewer people carrying machetes and knives.

"You get a lot of people with screwdrivers now. It is difficult. They can say they have it in case their bike breaks down."

Inspector Sherwood agreed the recent legislation had helped Police.

He said: "With these new laws they all disappear. They are fighting in the streets with knives and machetes but they are all gone as soon as the Police come. It's a great law.

"There is definitely a decline in the amount of injuries from bladed weapons since the new legislation."

The PSU's body armour is designed to ward off stab wounds while the team also carry baton guns in the van for deployment against people with edge weapons.

As the night wears on the focus becomes less on making drug arrests and more on dealing with problems caused by drunken revellers.

A disturbance at Mediterraneo leads to the team being called out twice while much later a drunk puts his fist through a display case outside Flanagan's and is promptly arrested.

But the drug problem still lingers. During sweeps of the street a red car runs a red light. Our van gives chase and then the passenger throws something out of the car door.

Our siren blares but the car quickly outpaces our van after a few sharp corners.

At four a.m. the team head back for base having made eight arrests that night. While public order might be its mandate, it is clear drug work makes up the bulk of the work of the PSU.