Wednesday Webinar: Drug testing app with West Mercia Police
Our new series of Wednesday Webinars kicks off next Wednesday (15th January) when West Mercia Police will join us to share their in house developed Drug Testing solution.
Drug Testing on Arrest (DTOA) is a key element of the UK Government 10-year drugs strategy and enables police to drug test suspects arrested, on suspicion of a range of specific trigger offences, which then allows police to use a range of interventions.
The aim being to reduce the risk of reoffending and reduce the risk to members of the community of being victims of crime.
We will hear about the challenge the force wanted to address, the approach they took, and then a demonstration of the solution they developed which has significantly improved the use of the tactic and given officers more tools to address reoffending.
Hear direct from the Custody Sergeant, who using his knowledge of Microsoft 365 developed the new approach, hear about the impact and the improved data which is enabling the force to make evidence based decisions to tackle crime at the front line.
Why should forces use DTOA more?
The financial cost of drug misuse is absolutely staggering. It currently costs society almost £20 billion a year, something like £350 for every man, woman and child in England. But the human toll is incalculably larger, measured not in pounds lost but in lives shattered.
The vulnerable victims of the vile county lines gangs, dragged into the world of organised crime from as young as seven. The innocent families whose homes are broken into by addicts seeking to feed their habits, and whose neighbourhoods are blighted by the criminals who supply them. The small business owner who endures repeated shoplifting and anti-social behaviour on their high street.
The almost 3,000 people who lose their lives to illicit drugs each year, and the grieving loved ones they leave behind. (10yr Government Strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’ 2021).
A primary focus of the strategy is treatment in the community. DTOA is key to identifying people for treatment and rehabilitation opportunities who are using drugs and committing crime.
Police are allowed to test a person for Class A drugs if:
•When a police inspector, or higher rank, has reasonable grounds for suspecting that the offence was linked to the use of a specified Class A drug, and authorises the taking of a sample.
Persons over 18 can be tested at the time of arrest. Persons aged between 14 and 18 can only be tested at the time of charge. Persons under 14 are not eligible for testing under this legislation.