British drugs & police policy

[Rkmickey at aol.com]

This article from today's Sunday Times (London) would seem to indicate that 
the Blairites may be taking a very different course to the Clintonites on 
law'n'order.  I cannot imagine Barry McCaffery (or any American 
administration official) putting into writing (even in a "confidential" 
document) a proposal that drug rehabilitation be paid for by deducting the 
cost from current police budgets.  I also was not aware that the UK has been 
reducing the funding of the police and evidently reducing the number of 
officers.  Do any of the British listers know if this is accurate?  Does it 
perhaps reflect the privatizing of government services, with more reliance on 
rent-a-cops?
K. Mickey

http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/Sunday-Times/frontpage.html?2301953

June 20 1999BRITAIN

Police rebel on drug care 

by Nicholas Rufford 
Home Affairs Editor 

POLICE are rebelling against a controversial government plan to divert 
millions of pounds from their crimefighting budgets to treat addicts and buy 
them drugs. 

A confidential Home Office circular from the international and organised 
crime directorate asks police forces to finance the treatment of drug users 
who are arrested on suspicion of criminal offences. 

As many as 30,000 addicts a year could be sent from police cells to clinics 
charging between £500 and £1,000 a week per person. Some will be prescribed 
heroin or methadone. The government says that the police should pay for the 
treatment because they will benefit from a fall in crime. 

However, some of the most senior chief constables are refusing to co-operate 
in a move that challenges the authority of Jack Straw, the home secretary. 
The issue could snowball into a bigger revolt over cuts in police funding 
that have already led to about 700 fewer beat officers since Labour came to 
power. 

David Phillips, the chief constable of Kent and chairman of the crime 
committee of the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo), said he would 
refuse to pay. "I, as a chief constable, will not do it. We will make every 
effort to help arrange treatment, but it is quite wrong to expect us to pay." 

John Newing, chief constable of Derbyshire and president of Acpo, said police 
forces could not afford it. "For every pound spent treating drug addicts, a 
pound less will be spent on police officers on the beat." 

Straw has so far managed to avoid a public clash with chief constables over 
budget cuts and declining police numbers. However, the drugs issue could be a 
catalyst for disobedience, police say. 

A meeting this week of senior officers from the 43 forces in England and 
Wales will decide how to respond to the Home Office plan and a strategy of 
organised resistance is expected. 

The Sunday Times has learnt that the Home Office wants everyone arrested who 
has a drug problem to have the opportunity for treatment. That could amount 
to one in five arrests, which would put a huge drain on police resources. 

Ann Widdecombe, the shadow home secretary, said the Home Office plan was 
deeply flawed. "There is nothing wrong with treating drug addicts, but it 
should not be a charge on the police." 

Additional reporting: Sumit Das Gupta