Andy Opie

1

• Andy Opie
• Croydon Drug and Alcohol Action Team (DAAT)
  Co-ordinator

2
Introduction

• Young People
• Treatment
• Tackling Supply
• Drug Related Crime

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Drug Interventions Programme (DIP)

• Aim
• To reduce drug related offending by supporting
  drug misusing offenders into and through the drug
  treatment system
• Started in April 2003 in 20 pilot areas
• Croydon was in second wave from April 2004
• Police investment and local DIP Grant

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Drug testing

• Trigger offences on charge (Drug possession or
  supply and acquisitive crime)
• Class A drugs (heroin and cocaine/crack)
• Dedicated Detention Officers
• Positive tests used to help court make sentencing
  decisions and to ensure that relevant advice and
  treatment are made available to the detainee
• People who test positive are not required to have
  an assessment nor does it lead to any
  restrictions on bail decisions.yet!

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Tough Choices

• From April 2006 Tough Choices will be rolled
  out to intensive DIP areas
• Testing on arrest rather than on charge
• Required assessments new power for the Police
  to require an initial assessment to take place
  following a positive drug test for Class A
• Restriction on bail where people have tested
  positive they may be asked at the bail hearing to
  undergo an assessment of their drug problem if
  this has not already taken place. If the
  recommendations of the assessment are not agreed
  to by the defendant it is unlikely that bail will
  be granted

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Treatment and support

• DIP Core Team assessments, referral tracking
• Rapid access to treatment 1 week
• Wraparound services e.g. Housing
• Once in treatment people are tracked to ensure
  they continue to be successfully engaged
• If people drop out they are targeted through
  assertive outreach, re-assessed and encouraged to
  re-engage

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Drug Rehabilitation Requirements

• Drug related offenders may be placed on DRRs
  (previously DTTOs)
• Community sentence managed by probation in
  partnership with treatment services
• Failure to attend or testing positive whilst on
  the order may lead to breach and the community
  sentence will be reviewed with the possibility of
  a custodial sentence instead

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Prisons

• The DIP Core Team are also required to work
  closely with prisons by receiving people released
  back into the community and working with people
  held on remand
• Prison link workers develop contact with people
  in the prison and ensure that there is help and
  support available to them in the lead up to them
  being sentenced or pre-release from a custodial
  sentence

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How many people? April-Sept 2005

• 62 drug tests per month
• 40 test positive (25)
• 50 for both heroin and cocaine/crack, 35
  cocaine, 15 heroin
• DIP Core team contact an average of 46 people per
  month (drug tests, prisons etc)
• 32 receive a full assessment
• 20 people successfully enter treatment
• Different types of treatment will have different
  outcomes but people are generally well retained
• 42 people have started DRRs

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Implications of Tough Choices

• Up to 3 times more drug tests
• More people identified and, therefore, more
  assessments
• Greater demand on treatment and support services
  and the types of support offered
• Changes in processes for Police, Courts and
  prisons
• Hard sell to clients to prevent an increase in
  people being held on remand

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Effectiveness

• Difficult to measure the impact of drug related
  crime but we are keen to start looking at this in
  more detail locally.
• A national review is currently taking place with
  results scheduled for the Spring 2006
• National data shows that acquisitive crime fell
  by 11 in the year to May 2005
• DIP is part of a wider programme of actions
  outlined in the crime reduction strategy for
  Croydon

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Summary

• DIP is effective in targeting drug related
  offenders and directing them into treatment
• Changes from April 2006 will enable us to target
  more people than we are currently but will offer
  significant challenges to the Criminal Justice
  System as a whole
• DIP is providing very useful information on the
  drug using population and the effectiveness of
  treatment services
• DIP is part of a broad strategy tackling crime in
  the Borough