PC ATTACKED BY ECSTASY SON BLAMES THE POLICE

A POLICE officer who was attacked by his son with a 12in kitchen knife
after the teenager had mixed alcohol and ecstasy said yesterday that the
service had let him down because the drug was so readily available.

He accused police chiefs of spending too much time pursuing international
drug smugglers and major dealers while leaving untouched low-level pushers
who targeted young people.

The uniformed patrol officer, who declined to be identified because his
19-year-old son did not know he was making his speech, took the floor at
the Police Federation annual conference in Bournemouth during a session on
drugs. He recalled being at home late one Friday night when his son came
in. He was "obviously high". After a brief conversation, the boy picked up
a kitchen knife and started threatening him. The father said he managed to
escape to a bedroom, where he barricaded himself in.

His son started attacking the door but gave up his weapon when other
officers arrived. The father was not injured and persuaded colleagues not
to arrest his son. He said: "We dealt with it within the family,"

He said his son had now realised the damage drugs were doing to him and had
stopped taking them. He now had a job and, he added, "he's not a bad lad".
The 50-year-old officer was later told by his son's friends that he had
taken ecstasy and alcohol. One told him it was "as easy to buy drugs in
pubs as it is to buy cigarettes".

The constable, who has 30 years' experience, said: "When I was a young
policeman, I used to be on foot patrol in the town centre - and not a week
went by when I wasn't arresting people for possession of drugs.

"My son is now 19 years of age and the problem still exists. We have never
got a grip on it over that 30 years. It's no good just dealing with people
on an international scale, the high-powered criminals. In the meantime,
people like my son are being subjected to local dealers and suffering the
problems. I feel the police service has let me down as a parent." He said
forces should target pubs and clubs where drugs were sold almost openly
with the connivance of staff. He said: "If you are running those premises
properly, you have got to know what's going on, you have got to be turning
a blind eye. Some of those people are abandoning their responsibility."

The officer said chief constables should be tackling local drug dealers. He
said: "We have anti-burglary programmes, we have drink-drive programmes, we
have excellent drugs squads, but they have been reduced in number in some
forces. We have never had chief constables saying we are going to target
the drugs problem."

Keith Hellawell - the former chief constable and now the UK Anti Drugs
Co-ordinator - told the meeting that one aim of the police was to "disrupt"
local drug markets, including those in pubs and clubs. But he said that the
police's "war on drugs" had not reduced supplies. he said: "Just
interfering, arresting and seizing has not stopped the availability of
drugs on our streets." Targets for increased arrests and seizures risked
being "laid to waste" if enforcement was not backed up with treatment for
addicts, he said.

Sir Brian Mawhinney, Conservative spokesman on home affairs, told the
conference that he wanted new powers for police to ban convicted drug
dealers from particular nightclubs or parts of town.

His proposals would affect people who, in the view of police, appeared
likely to cause "serious harm" to the public - for instance, by appearing
to have started dealing again. Sir Brian criticised Tony Blair for
entertaining drug users, such as pop stars, at 10 Downing Street. He said:
"Police officers and others who have to deal with the consequences of drug
abuse on our streets every day do not want to see known drug abusers
fEAted in Downing Street. Everyone knows that the message this sends is
all wrong. Such an approach is not cool - it is downright irresponsible."

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)