Gwent Police refer two people a week to 'recognise and respond' drug misuse scheme
They've helped 65 people in the first six months of their initiative - expanding drug testing on arrest
Last updated 15th Jun 2024
Gwent Police have diverted 65 people away from crime and into treatment support in the first six months of the expansion of their scheme to test people for drugs when they're arrested.
In practice, this means police can test suspects in custody for the presence of opiates (such as heroin or cocaine) to better understand the role of drug misuse for when certain crimes are carried out, like burglary and robbery.
These are called 'trigger offences', from which the police automatically test for drugs from with anyone over the age of 18.
Gwent Police is one of five police services in England and Wales to receive extra cash from the Home Office to increase testing on arrest for a wider range of offences – including domestic abuse, Violence against women and girls (VAWG) and public order offences.
With the expansion, if an officer suspects Class A drugs use may have caused or contributed to the offence, they can ask for the offender to be drug tested.
Between October 2022 and March 2023, 290 assessments have been carried out on individuals who tested positive for heroin or cocaine on arrest.
Following their initial assessment, 62 have been referred to the Gwent Drug Alcohol Service (GDAS) and three have been referred to other diversionary projects.
Detective Inspector Emma Coopey, leading on the expansion said: “While we’re responsible for the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for drug dealing and associated criminality, we also have a responsibility to prevent these crimes from happening in the first place, wherever possible.
“Drug testing on arrest acknowledges that in some instances, crimes are driven by addiction and drug misuse. By testing on arrest, we can help identify addiction or misuse earlier.
“This gives some of our most vulnerable members of our community the opportunity to take positive steps towards tackling their drug misuse or dependency by providing them with access to specialist support.
“We’ve been rolling out training to our frontline and custody officers to encourage them to spot the signs of drug misuse and provide a referral pathway to support services.”
A positive test for the drugs then allows the police to divert some people towards things like treatment to tackle their drug-related offending.
A positive result cannot be used as evidence of a previous crime but will be used to refer the individual for an assessment with a specialist drugs worker from our partners.
Following the successful trials in the initial five forces, the expansion of drug testing on arrest is set to be rolled out across other police services in England and Wales.