POLICE DEMAND ACTION TO CUT DRUGS IN PRISON

Senior police officers today urged the Home Office to do more to cut the
smuggling of drugs into prisons.

In a letter to prisons minister Paul Goggins, the Association of Chief
Police Officers (ACPO) said the levels of illegal substances in jails could
affect inmates' attempts to overcome addictions.

ACPO drug treatment spokesman, Deputy Chief Constable Howard Roberts of
Nottinghamshire Police, told the minister: "Substantial investment has been
put into drugs treatment by the Government and positive results appear to
be flowing from that investment, and co-ordinated schemes.

To maximise the effectiveness of that investment, it is most important that
within the prison environment, inmates have as drug-free an environment as
possible.

This maximises the opportunity to be drug-free upon release. Prison can
present a key opportunity to change the futures of prisoners with respect
to their drugs misuse, whilst in a controlled environment."

Mr Roberts said he wrote the letter in light of the recent ACPO Drugs
Conference, where one former drug dealer told delegates how he had started
his 20-year heroin addiction in prison.

The police chief told Mr Goggins how one Nottinghamshire prison governor
had cut the number of positive drug tests at two jails in succession.

Mr Roberts told PA: "There's clearly already lots of good practice across
the prison service, however the key point I am making is that there's a
huge disparity between the same types of prisons.

For example, in local male prisons, there is an average rate of 30.5%
positive tests, but at Lincoln the rate was 7.4%.

My point is not about huge investment, it's about consistent efforts across
the priservice, working together local police forces.

The key is a combination of good practice, strong accountability in terms
of performance, strong leadership by individual prison governors and strong
partnership working between prisons and police.

That does not cost a lot of money, that's just about effort.

The real gains that can flow from such work will then further maximise the
Government's investment in drug treatment, and benefit, not only the
individuals themselves, but the communities that suffer from drug-fuelled
criminality."