Tackling alcohol and other drug problems – the
big picture
by Assistant Commissioner PETER MARSHALL
It’s often in the headlines and it’s all too often
seen in front-line policing. Substance misuse is a known risk factor
for offending and
victimisation, including road trauma.
IT’S NO surprise, then, that drugs and alcohol are recognised as
a key intervention point in the Police Statement of Intent 2004/2005, and
that
strategies to tackle alcohol and other drug problems are getting
a high priority right across police.
At OoC, drug and alcohol-related work is central to my crime reduction
and public safety portfolio. OoC teams who work closely with me on
these issues include the Planning, Policy and Evaluation Group (headed
by Superintendent
Dave Trappitt), the National Crime Service Centre (soon to be headed
by Detective Superintendent Nick Perry), and the Road Policing Support
Group (headed by
Superintendent Steve Fitzgerald). Helping to coordinate drug and
alcohol work across different groups at OoC is newly-appointed strategic
adviser, Michael Webb.
If we can help break the cycle of drug and alcohol abuse and crime
and crashes, everyone wins. Police also has an important role to
play in across-government and whole-of-community efforts to reduce substance-related
harm, and it is work we need to take forward on multiple fronts – not
just within CIB, GDB and STUs, but also through Youth Services, our
iwi, Pacific and ethnic liaison officer network, and so on.
Successfully tackling alcohol and other drug problems is a police-wide
responsibility, and we all have a contribution to make.
While we need to support and strengthen specialist resources – like
our liquor licensing officers, Traffic Alcohol Groups, diversion analysts
and ‘clan lab’ teams – we also need to go broader than
that, and encourage all staff to do their bit. I’m also particularly
keen to see if we can move increasingly towards proactive interventions,
and away from a reactive style of dealing with substance-related
problems.
At a high level, efforts in this area are guided by the government’s
National Drug Policy, and various strategies and action plans which
sit underneath it, like the Methamphetamine Action Plan. There are also
moves to develop
police-specific strategies in certain areas. For example, work is
underway on a Police Alcohol Action Plan.
|
