Ready availability of illegal drugs can make it easier
for young people to develop into problematic drug users and makes it harder
for drug users to get off drugs.
Drugs in the Community - Your
Say
To inform the development of the
new 10 year drug
strategy (2008 to 2018) and to ensure that it responds to the issues
that are of concern to communities, the government launched a public
consultation in July 2007. More than a thousand written responses
were received and interviews were conducted with stakeholders,
communities and agencies. One of the key priorities identified by
the public was:
Visible and effective action against drug
dealers, responding to community concerns and providing timely feedback on
action taken.
One of the key priorities of the new drug strategy
is:
Protecting communities through robust enforcement to
tackle drug supply, drug related crime and anti-social behaviour.
The key actions for this priority are:
-
Embedding action to tackle drugs within the
neighbourhood policing approach, to gather community intelligence and
to increase community confidence
-
Stregthening and extending international
partnerships to intercept drugs being trafficked to the UK, including
asset seizure agreements
-
Extending powers to seize the cash and assets of
drug dealers, to demonstrate to communities that dealing doesn't pay -
this will include using money seized to support community
projects
-
Support communities who wish to take action against
drug dealing by promoting local Crimestopper
campaigns such as 'Rat on a Rat' and 'Too Much Bling, Give Us a
Ring'
Tackling Drug Supply and Availability in the
South East
The Government Office for the South East is working
closely with police forces, partners and agencies to reduce the harms
caused by illegal drugs by tackling the supply and availability of drugs
within local communities.
A South East Region Availability Group has been formed
to provide a forum where key partners and agencies can meet to exchange
information, identify good practice and to develop effective approaches
against drug supply markets. The group which meets quarterly includes
members from local Drug and Alcohol Action Teams, police forces, the
Serious and Organised Crime Agency, Customs, HM Prison Service and Borders
and Immigration Agency.
The group have identified a number of key priority
areas, which include:
-
Developing drug market profiles that provides a
clear picture of how drug markets and dealers operate
-
Tackling organised crime groups involved in the
production of cannabis within rented houses
-
Tackling London based gangs who travel into local
communities to supply heroin and crack cocaine
-
Develop close partnership working to ensure all
relevant agencies are involved in drug enforcement operations
-
Develop
technology to combat drug supply including the Ion track drug
trace machine that can detect minute traces of illegal drugs.
This device is already being successfully used to tackle drugs in
pubs, clubs and 'crack' houses to combat
the supply of drugs into prisons
Each year the Home Office hosts the National Reducing
Supply Conference and Awards ceremony which pays tribute to police forces
and agencies that have demonstrated outstanding achievements in tacking
drug supply and developing best practice.
Practitioners guide - Implementing Drugs Market Reduction
Initiatives
Thames Valley Partnership and Evidence Led Solutions produced a Practitioners Guide:
Implementing Drugs Market Reduction Initiatives, following an expert
workshop held in March 2009.
This guide provides advice on planning and implementing integrated drugs
market reduction initiatives. These consist of approaches that
combine a range of methods to tackle local drugs markets, including
enforcement, outreach / support and treatment. The guide is based on
the experience of two project operations in the South East - Operation
Reduction in Brighton and Hove and Operation Iceberg in North
Kent. Both projects were undertaken within a police Basic
Command Unit (BCU) area and both were in areas with non-intensive Drug
Intervention Projects (DIPs). Both projects have demonstrated
significant reductions in drug related offending. The guide also
includes examples form Operation Brava -a similar project operating in
Leeds.
The document provides an introduction to integrated drugs market reduction
initiatives, followed by advice on planning such initiatives; implementing
different aspects of the projects; sustaining intervention and engaging
with local communities about these projects.
Please contact Thamasin Gray
for further information, should you wish to take this to your
Partnership for consideration.
Useful websites
Publications on the
Home Office
website
Assets
Recovery
Association
of Chief Police Officers
