'DESPERATE NEED' FOR DETOX CENTRES IN MAJOR CITIES

Waking up cold and sweaty in a police cell while coming off drugs or
alcohol is a sobering experience, in more ways than one.

Not only for the people being arrested, but for the police officers
who have to deal with them regularly.

Detoxification centres where people can sober up or come off drugs
safely before appearing in court are desperately needed, says Michelle
Dianne Kidd, who works for Lifewise, formerly known as Methodist
Mission Northern, at Auckland District Court.

Her work involves dealing with people on court charges who are
homeless or have a mental illness or intellectual disorder.

Ms Kidd has been based at Auckland District Court for the past 10
years and is the first point of contact for those going through probation.

She believes that anyone who is drunk and is picked up on the street
by police for disorderly behaviour should not be kept in police
custody, especially with the Rugby World Cup coming up in 2011.

"It is not a police problem and people who are sobering up or coming
off drugs like methamphetamine could have a terrifying experience if
they wake up in a police cell. "The court needs a medical
detoxification unit that is dual-diagnosis, so when police pick up
people who are drunk they can be monitored closely. Some people might
have mental health issues or they might be self-medicating, so it's
not just a case of throwing them in a cell.

"Within that time of detox, connections can be made back to family, as
there is no point putting someone in a cell at three or four o'clock
in the morning and then presenting them in court that same day when
they are still drunk or high on methamphetamine."

Ms Kidd said about 95 per cent of cases she observed going through the
courts were alcohol-related. And she believes there needs to be better
education on liquor, as many people continue to return to court on
alcohol-related charges.

"There's got to be a better way than just building more prisons. That
is not addressing the other issues of mental health, drug and alcohol
addiction. It is just covering it up."

She said detoxification centres were not just needed in Auckland, as
every city in New Zealand would benefit.

Ms Kidd said that in 2005, Wellington coroner Garry Evans ruled that
two men who died in police custody could have survived if they had
been monitored in a detoxification centre.

Francis James Hurd, 68, died in November 2005 after he was found
unconscious in a police cell. And just days later, epileptic Henry
Reuban Grace, 43, died of a seizure disorder while in police custody.

"There is a need for some consistent guidelines. The Alcohol and Drug
Addiction Act of 1966 had anticipated the establishment of
detoxification centres, but consequently police cells are being used
for this purpose by default," Ms Kidd said. In 2007, 48 per cent of
people held in police stations had been using at least one drug at the
time of arrest. In the same year, police were called to nearly 9000
incidents involving people with solely mental health-related issues,
and they also helped more than 17,000 people who had become affected
by alcohol and drugs.

Steps are already being taken to address the problem. A joint
programme was set up last year between the Health Ministry and police,
with drug and alcohol nurses placed in police stations in Manukau and
Christchurch.

The three-year pilot involves nurses screening those people who have
been arrested and who might have mental health and alcohol/drug
problems, enabling them to be referred for treatment if they need it.

Manukau police station is one of the busiest in the country, and two
nurses joined the team in May and August.

Inspector Dave Simpson, of Manukau police, said it had been a great
success so far.

"The alcohol and other drug [AOD] nurse project is probably less about
dealing with a grossly intoxicated person and more about dealing with
someone who's sobered up, because it's about engaging with that person
to get them on the right track to get the help they need to manage a
drink or drug problem. "The presence of a nurse in a police station
does help police to manage people with disabilities and addictions and
identify what the effects of medications are and how to administer
those correctly. Our staff are also getting valuable training advice
and we have been able to create a much safer environment, both for the
prisoner and for our staff."

Mr Simpson is full of praise for the project and thinks the whole
country could benefit from it.

But he is not so sure about having detoxification centres in court,
because he says that on a practical level, courts are not open at
three o'clock in the morning when the drunks are brought in.

"Not everyone who is brought into the police station in an intoxicated
condition goes on to appear in court. If they are brought to a police
station in a grossly intoxicated condition, they may only have
committed a minor offence and may just be given a warning and are
simply released after they sober up.

"The police station is not the best place to manage an intoxicated
person because police officers simply aren't qualified to do that. It
appears there is a gap in the management of these people.

"We would never put a grossly intoxicated person before the court.
It's a risk of a miscarriage of justice.

"One of the things the community alcohol and drugs service tells me is
there is never such a thing as wrong intervention. You try everything
with these people and you've got to be totally open-minded, and I'm
certainly trying to do that."