CANNABIS CAUTIONS SAVE TIME, SAYS MET CHIEF

A CONTROVERSIAL scheme, in which people caught in possession of
cannabis are let off with a warning, has saved 1,350 hours of police
time in six months, Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir John Stevens
said today.

Sir John told a meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority that
officers involved in the scheme in Lambeth, south London, had issued
450 warnings to people found with small amounts of the drug.

The time saved was the equivalent of having nearly two extra
officers.

The pilot scheme saw a 35 per cent increase in the number of instances
of possession recorded and an 11 per cent increase in trafficking
offences recorded.

Supporters of the scheme claim that freeing up officer time allows
police to detect more offences.

Critics say the increase in recorded offences is because drugs have
flooded into the area as a result of the experiment.

Sir John said a Police Foundation report showed 83 per cent of
residents in Lambeth supported the softly, softly cannabis scheme.

He said 36 per cent supported it outright, and 47 per cent had given
conditional support.

Sir John added: "A larger percentage of white residents than black
or Asian residents supported the scheme."

He said the report said officer-time saved in completing arrest
formalities and preparing court papers could be put into
crime fighting use.

Deputy assistant Commissioner Mike Fuller, who has been overseeing the
project, said there had been some misunderstanding in Lambeth about
what the scheme actually meant.

He said: "The public were very unclear about what was happening and
thought drugs were being legalised and that wasn't the case."
Officers are still seizing the cannabis.

"Communication is going to be a key issue in any new scheme which
arises from the pilot."

Sir John said no immediate decision was being taken and, for the
moment, the pilot scheme in Lambeth would continue.