Written question asked by Chris Huhne (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 14 October 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 16 October 2009. It was answered by Alan Johnson (Labour) on Monday, 26 October 2009 on behalf of the Home Office.
Drug Interventions Programme
- Question
- To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many and what proportion of people arrested and tested under the Drug Interventions Programme were positive for (a) heroin and (b) crack cocaine in each police force area in each year since 2003.
- Answer
-
The drug testing of offenders for specified Class A drugs (heroin and cocaine/crack) in police custody came into operation from 2003 across 30 Basic Command Units (BCUs) as part of the Drug Interventions Programme (DIP). Since that time the programme has expanded in a phased approach to 66 BCUs in 2004 and some 107 BCUs in 2005. DIP currently conducts drug testing in 109 BCUs across England and Wales.Only offenders arrested or charged with a "trigger offence"—largely acquisitive crime related offences—are required to provide a sample to be tested for specified Class A drugs.Tables 1, 2 and 3 show the number of positive tests under the Drug Interventions Programme for heroin only, cocaine only, and heroin and cocaine combined, for each financial year since data was available.
Table 1: Heroin only Force 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 223 213 408 319 334 Bedfordshire 179 223 328 90 165 Cambridgeshire 164 157 277 196 244 City of London — — 124 84 102 Cleveland 596 516 1,073 988 1,031 Devon and Cornwall 222 160 126 79 55 Greater Manchester 1,299 1,834 2,436 1,762 1,947 Gwent — 39 111 87 180 Humberside 510 545 871 663 878 Lancashire 244 278 237 217 207 Leicestershire 212 382 641 529 808 Merseyside 480 361 521 705 1,175 Metropolitan police 1,393 1,932 2,935 2,326 2,763 North Wales 220 149 122 124 145 Northamptonshire — 134 186 167 206 Northumbria 591 750 1,426 1,108 1,106 Nottinghamshire 558 953 1,617 989 852 South Wales 1 499 557 532 678 South Yorkshire 823 1,446 1,710 1,392 1,427 Staffordshire 171 127 191 183 58 Thames Valley 232 170 299 356 545 West Midlands 898 2,157 3,063 2,571 2,746 West Yorkshire 817 1,229 2,184 1,854 1,890 Table 2: Cocaine only (both powder cocaine and crack cocaine) Force 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 310 327 610 756 920 Bedfordshire 156 333 667 429 371 Cambridgeshire 58 69 114 190 223 City of London — — 228 274 206 Cleveland 271 274 696 1,011 994 Devon and Cornwall 19 37 26 47 41 Greater Manchester 1,051 1,872 2,816 3,840 3,080 Gwent — 58 64 90 86 Humberside 223 188 431 583 565 Lancashire 46 63 47 76 111 Leicestershire 127 143 372 408 569 Merseyside 584 516 1,401 2,781 3,396 Metropolitan police 3,327 3,700 8,469 10,084 9,450 North Wales 27 33 34 71 64 Northamptonshire — 123 298 375 342 Northumbria 210 391 1,091 1,140 1,208 Nottinghamshire 355 647 1,350 1,377 1,215 South Wales — 181 166 326 351 South Yorkshire 381 656 906 1,425 1,298 Staffordshire 48 39 51 66 25 Thames Valley 292 359 658 1,012 914 West Midlands 726 1,205 3,012 4,921 4,592 West Yorkshire 358 620 1,909 3,165 3,116 Table 3: Both heroin and cocaine (both powder cocaine and crack cocaine) Force 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 609 697 1,335 1,402 1,194 Bedfordshire 276 421 960 527 347 Cambridgeshire 67 126 179 215 272 City of London — — 361 350 206 Cleveland 391 457 1,048 1,166 880 Devon and Cornwall 28 46 25 33 15 Greater Manchester 1,480 2,612 3,392 3,384 2,718 Gwent — 64 129 157 102 Humberside 282 316 712 850 599 Lancashire 126 123 114 156 86 Leicestershire 140 242 463 479 537 Merseyside 1,483 1,213 2,114 2,223 2,265 Metropolitan police 3,528 4,844 8,801 8,733 7,372 North Wales 77 68 66 90 58 Northamptonshire — 136 254 206 169 Northumbria 142 333 553 548 537 Nottinghamshire 566 1,374 2,342 1,720 1,188 South Wales — 318 235 383 339 South Yorkshire 833 1,455 2,182 1,954 1,499 Staffordshire 102 92 89 94 39 Thames Valley 528 518 919 1,152 973 West Midlands 1,235 2,816 5,268 5,677 4,647 West Yorkshire 747 1,298 3,272 3,637 2,959 Tables 4, 5 and 6 show the proportion of tests under DIP which were positive for heroin only, cocaine only, and heroin and cocaine combined, for each financial year since data was available.
Table 4: Heroin only Percentage Force 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 11 10 8 6 6 Bedfordshire 16 12 7 4 7 Cambridgeshire 20 14 13 10 11 City of London — — 7 5 6 Cleveland 23 21 16 13 13 Devon and Cornwall 32 23 22 13 17 Greater Manchester 13 11 10 7 8 Gwent — 11 17 13 18 Humberside 17 20 15 11 13 Lancashire 26 27 23 20 18 Leicestershire 16 17 13 12 14 Merseyside 11 9 6 6 7 Metropolitan police 8 9 5 4 5 North Wales 31 28 24 16 21 Northamptonshire — 14 8 6 8 Northumbria 21 18 14 12 10 Nottinghamshire 18 14 11 9 8 South Wales 100 21 24 18 19 South Yorkshire 20 18 14 12 11 Staffordshire 24 25 26 22 17 Thames Valley 11 8 6 6 7 West Midlands 14 17 10 7 8 West Yorkshire 18 17 10 7 7 Table 5: Cocaine only (both powder cocaine and crack cocaine) Percentage Force 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 15 16 12 15 17 Bedfordshire 14 18 14 17 15 Cambridgeshire 7 6 5 10 10 City of London — — 13 15 12 Cleveland 10 11 11 14 13 Devon and Cornwall 3 5 5 8 13 Greater Manchester 11 11 12 16 13 Gwent — 16 10 13 9 Humberside 7 7 7 10 8 Lancashire 5 6 5 7 10 Leicestershire 10 6 8 9 10 Merseyside 13 13 17 23 21 Metropolitan police 20 17 16 19 18 North Wales 4 6 7 9 9 Northamptonshire — 13 12 14 13 Northumbria 8 9 11 12 11 Nottinghamshire 11t 9 9 13 12 South Wales 0 8 7 11 10 South Yorkshire 9 8 8 12 10 Staffordshire 7 8 7 8 7 Thames Valley 14 17 14 16 12 West Midlands 11 9 10 14 13 West Yorkshire 8 9 9 13 12 Table 6: Both heroin and cocaine (both powder cocaine and crack cocaine) Percentage Force 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 Avon and Somerset 30 33 26 28 22 Bedfordshire 24 23 21 21 14 Cambridgeshire 8 11 8 11 12 City of London — — 20 19 12 Cleveland 15 19 16 16 11 Devon and Cornwall 4 7 4 5 5 Greater Manchester 15 16 14 14 11 Gwent — 18 20 23 10 Humberside 9 12 12 14 9 Lancashire 14 12 11 14 8 Leicestershire 11 11 10 11 9 Merseyside 33 31 25 18 14 Metropolitan police 21 23 16 16 14 North Wales 11 13 13 11 8 Northamptonshire — 14 10 8 6 Northumbria 5 8 5 6 5 Nottinghamshire 18 20 16 16 11 South Wales 0 13 10 13 9 South Yorkshire 20 18 18 16 12 Staffordshire 14 18 12 12 11 Thames Valley 26 24 19 18 13 West Midlands 19 22 17 16 13 West Yorkshire 17 18 15 15 11 The question asks for numbers testing positive for crack cocaine. It is not possible to provide data on positive tests for crack cocaine only because the drug test conducted as part of DIP does not distinguish between powder cocaine and crack cocaine.Between 2003 and 2005 the programme operated drug testing at the point of charge. From 2005 to the present time the programme has operated drug testing at the point of arrest, which has led to an increase in the number of individuals required to be tested.
Secondary information
- Type
- Written question
- Reference
- 498 c178-84W;498 c176-82W; 294178
- Session
- 2008-09
- Subjects
- Drug interventions programme
- Contains statistics
- Yes
- Link
- View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk
Librarians' tools
- Timestamp
- 2013-11-26 03:22:40 +0000
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