Crime continuing to fall in Kent area 

The latest crime figures for Kent to emerge from the Home Office make for encouraging reading. Overall crime in Kent fell in the last quarter of 2007 by over 17% compared to the same period in 2006 and there were sharp falls in the number of criminal damage offences and vehicle crime in particular. In one area however, that of drug related offences, there was a marked increase compared to the 2006 figures. Although this increase is by no means unique to Kent, it is a problem that local law enforcement agencies are quite rightly taking extremely seriously.

In North Kent a major multi-agency operation to disrupt drug related criminal networks and target repeat offenders has been set up which has already yielded some very positive outcomes. There is a recognition though among local agencies that we need to look at ways in which we can strengthen the ability of our criminal justice system to deal with persistent drug offenders. North Kent Police has been particularly active in this regard. Its officers have spent time looking at the lessons that can be learnt from some innovative American models aimed at breaking the cycle of drug misuse and offending. A few weeks ago in fact I and the North Kent Police Area Commander, Chief Superintendent Gary Beautridge, had a meeting with the Home Office Minister Tony McNulty MP, to talk about the work that North Kent Police has been doing and its ideas for the future. The Minister has subsequently written to me to underline his appreciation of what North Kent Police have been doing to deal with the problem.

One of the interesting things that we have learnt from America is the value of having a court system where the judge takes ‘ownership’ of each drug offender and sees them regularly throughout the duration of their treatment or community service order. Not only does this ensure that each case is dealt with in a consistent and coherent fashion but it allows the judge to develop a relationship with the offender and also prevents them from playing the system to their advantage.

A number of dedicated drugs courts have in fact already been set up along these lines in England and the results from them so far have been encouraging. Further evaluation is still required but there is good reason to think that they could provide us with a tool of considerable value in our bid to reduce drug related crime.