POLICE 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 taken 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. "we dealt with it within the family," he said. 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 procession 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.

"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. "We
have anti-burglary programmes, we have drink-drive programmes, we have
excellent drugs squads, but they have been reduced in numbers in some
forces". "We have never had chief constables saying we are going to target
the drugs problem," he added.

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 added that the
police's "war on drugs" had not reduced supplies. "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 the police to ban convicted drug dealers from
particular night-clubs 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.

"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 feted
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: "Rolf Ernst"