The misery of drug abuse is a corrosive element within
communities and turns law-abiding citizens into criminals. The
damage caused by drugs crosses all social classes and economic
boundaries, leaving victims and misery in its wake.
Effective policing is one of the most powerful tools in dealing
with drugs, but enforcement in isolation will not achieve a lasting
solution to the problem. The complexity of the drugs problem
affords no easy solutions, and that is why the Cheshire
Constabulary is committed to tackling the problem of drugs by
working with all interested parties, whether they be partner
agencies, communities, business or voluntary groups.
Our strategy seeks to combine prevention, education, harm
minimisation and treatment with our own enforcement
responsibilities in a manner that harmonizes with each element. Our
challenge is to achieve this without detriment to, or detraction
from, any of these individual elements whilst ensuring that we
continue to deliver the high standards of policing that Cheshire
deserves.
The Constabulary's approach to drug related issues involves both
strong enforcement and active education programmes. We seek to
tackle the supply of drugs through enforcement and work with our
partners on the Drug Action teams to address demand through a
combination of Criminal Justice Interventions and education
initiatives.
We know that drug misuse and crime are strongly connected:
- 65 per cent of arrestees across four sites tested positive for
an illegal drug, with 29 per cent testing positive for heroin
and/or cocaine/crack.
- 42 per cent of those studied believed their drug taking to be
connected to their offending.
- Of those arrestees who declared some illegal income, 47 per
cent reported income from property crime.
Users of both heroin and cocaine/crack represent nearly a
quarter of the arrestees, yet they are responsible for more than
half (by value) of acquisitive crime.
The Cheshire Constabulary work with the three Drug Action Teams
in Cheshire, Halton and Warrington to deliver a broad range of
Criminal Justice Interventions designed to help drug-misusing
offenders out of crime and into treatment.