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Call for 'smarter' drugs policy Call for 'smarter' drugs policy
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Police should take a "smarter" approach to tackling drugs to reduce levels of violent crime, a think tank has said. Drugs policing should switch focus towards tackling associated violence rather than simply making seizures and arrests, a think tank report has said.
The UK Drug Policy Commission's report says the government's strategy focuses too much on seizures and arrests and not enough on reducing harm. The UK Drug Policy Commission says raids can cause unforeseen problems such as violent turf wars when new dealers replace those arrested.
It says new dealers often take the place of those arrested and can bring new problems such as violent turf wars. It wants a "smarter" approach, tackling problems drugs can cause communities.
The Home Office said: "Harm reduction underpins every element of our approach to tackling this complex issue."The Home Office said: "Harm reduction underpins every element of our approach to tackling this complex issue."
The commission cites the example of the US city of Boston, where murder rates fell when police offered not to prosecute gangsters for dealing drugs if they stopped killing each other. The commission's chief executive Roger Howard insisted it was not calling for police to "tolerate" drug dealing but said they should target the most harmful drug activity.
It doesn't mean don't arrest and seize, it means you do it in a smarter way UK Drug Policy Commission "We are saying... don't be misdirected by just focusing on arrests and seizures. That just tells you how busy the police are, it doesn't tell you what impact they are having.
It said in the UK's entrenched drugs markets arrests can lead to damaging unintended consequences. FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME class="" href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/default.stm">More from Today programme
"Some drug markets are very violent, very harmful to local communities [who] are living under the cosh," said Mr Howard.
Instead, the commission wants forces to focus on tackling issues like gun violence, sexual exploitation and use of children as look-outs or couriers.
The commission accepts that police, together with the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), are already trying to assess and tackle the problems the drug trade causes communities.
It claims a survey of 427 police and other enforcement agency staff provides support for its case to change focus.
About 90% of respondents said it was "unlikely" the UK drug market would be wiped out in the near future.
Only 21% said current targets - relating to arrests and seizures - were a good measure of the harms caused by dealing.
While the commission accepts limiting supply is important, its report claims that in the UK's entrenched drugs markets, arrests can lead to damaging unintended consequences.
Power vacuum
For example, the arrested dealer may be replaced by someone who is more violent.For example, the arrested dealer may be replaced by someone who is more violent.
Or if a backstreet, city-centre hot spot is shut down, dealers may move to a suburban area where the impact and fear imposed on the community is much greater. Arresting one king-pin drug dealer also raises the possibility of creating a power vacuum, with the resulting turf war and spike in violence, says the report.
And arresting one king-pin drug dealer also raises the possibility of creating a power vacuum with the resulting turf war and spike in violence. It suggests forcing drug dealers away from residential areas, where children play and residents can become intimidated, to areas such as industrial estates, would not reduce the amount of drug dealing but would lessen its impact.
A commission spokesman said enforcement was important and had reduced availability. It also suggests trial schemes in Britain to offer low-level dealers treatment and support as an alternative to prosecution could be extended.
Sustainable impact Humberside Chief Constable Tim Hollis, the Association of Chief Police Officers' drugs spokesman, said the police's commitment to neighbourhood policing reflected a "desire to listen to community concerns and take action that will contribute towards improving the lives of local people".
But he said that, beyond a certain point, when you imposed greater enforcement you did not necessarily see an equivalent reduction in harm. Soca director of intelligence David Bolt said impact on communities was already being taken into account.
"Where drug markets are established in this country you are going to suffer from diminishing returns," he said. He acknowledged "an intelligent combination of traditional law enforcement alongside new and innovative approaches" was needed to tackle the harm caused by the drugs trade.
Therefore it could be better not to focus on eradicating the markets altogether, but on making sure they take the least harmful form possible, he said. The Home Office said "tough enforcement is a fundamental part" of their strategy but also acknowledged the complexity of the problem.
Roger Howard: "Nowhere do we say 'tolerate'. The police must prioritise the most harmful drugs" A spokesman said: "We are not complacent; communities do not want to be blighted by the effects of drug misuse and drug dealing.
The spokesman said that, for example, it might be better that dealers were pushed out of local parks - where they created fear in the community and stopped children wanting to play - and into a dealer's home.
"It doesn't mean don't arrest and seize, it means you do it in a smarter way so that you constantly think of how it will have a sustainable impact.
"What we all want to do is make communities safer."
But the Home Office said "tough enforcement is a fundamental part" of their strategy, but also acknowledged the complexity of the problem.
A Home Office spokesman said: "We are not complacent; communities do not want to be blighted by the effects of drug misuse and drug dealing.
"That is why police, local authorities and communities must continue to work together so that our streets and communities can be free from the crime and anti-social behaviour they cause.""That is why police, local authorities and communities must continue to work together so that our streets and communities can be free from the crime and anti-social behaviour they cause."