Dawn raids were carried out across London this morning as part of a crackdown against knife crime and drugs. Police arrested 14 people after raids at 11 addresses in Lewisham. News Shopper’s reporter Will Nott was there…

It is 3.30am and I am standing outside a police station in Catford. The road is perfectly quiet. There is no wind. Everybody here is asleep. I am waiting for Detective Sergeant Dominic Bolas who is going to take me on a dawn raid.

I am let into the station and briefed by DS Bolas. There are plaques on the wall that commemorate officers killed in the line of duty.

The dawn raid is part of a crackdown against knife crime and drugs. It will be carried out by more than 100 officers from the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police and the British Transport Police.

In total, 14 people will be arrested in raids on 11 addresses in Lewisham over the course of the morning.

Among the targets of the raids are people allegedly involved in the exploitation of children, some are single mothers and some are mentally ill.

DS Bolas explains the police cannot be too heavy-handed. They are taking someone from the Children's Society with them to help. They will need to protect vulnerable people who are caught up with the gangs. At the time, I don’t realise just how vulnerable these people will be.

We drive to the first address in the Milford Towers estate in Catford. I walk up a stairwell and the stench of urine is incredibly strong. Blue lamps light up scratched walls. Rubbish sits in a corner at the top of the stairs.

We make our way through the estate and come to a group of police who are standing outside an open door. Beside the flat is a small space behind a door. It is filled with rubbish. There is a lone Moet Champagne box lying amongst the filth.

Then the police bring four men out of the flat one by one. The men don’t shout and don’t struggle.

We move off to another location where there have been more arrests. This time we are on a pleasant and well-kept road in Catford.

The police are already searching the property by the time we get there. We are told that there is a little girl of around three or four in the house. They say they have discovered a significant amount of drugs inside.

Three men are sitting, handcuffed, on the wall outside the house. They lower their heads. One complains to the police. The other two say nothing and eventually they are taken away.

Two women are led out and put into police vans. I’m not sure if one of the women is the mother of the little girl. Both women wear the same blank faces as the men and they do not give away any clues as to what they are feeling.

I stand and take photos and I don’t notice immediately but the little girl has been brought out of the house. Her hair is neatly braided and she is wearing warm, clean clothes.

She is being held by a senior policeman. He cradles her and she smiles at me over his shoulder. She seems incredibly calm.

Plain clothes officers are bringing out bags of evidence from the house and load them into the boot of a car.

Another officer minds the little girl as she giggles and stands beside the back seat of the car. She asks the officer why a car on the road is green.

It is time for the little girl to go and at once she starts to complain. She says she wants to see her kittens.

I go into the house and see that in a corner of a narrow corridor, there are a handful of tiny kittens. They can’t be six weeks old. They make small noises that are so high-pitched I can barely hear them.

I turn and look into the sitting room. It is filthy and there is drug paraphernalia lying around on the floor. There is also a small Peppa Pig teddy beside some empty laughing gas canisters.

DS Bolas guides me out of the house. I ask him what will happen to the kittens. He says somebody will come back for them later. I watch the kittens as he closes the door.

The image of the officer holding the little girl makes me realise just how tactful the police have been in the execution of the operation. I also realise how much they care.