CRIMINAL JUSTICE DRUGS TEAM

The Criminal Justice Drug Team is delivering results. Crime rates connected with drug misusers are falling across Leicester city and the surrounding counties.

The partnership approach provides drug support services and supervision from the point of arrest until the end of the court sentence. There is also help for misusers who make voluntary contact.

The team involves the Police, the Probation Service and Addaction, a national charity that works with people with drug and alcohol issues.

Every year the integrated drug team works with more than 1000 men and women who have been sentenced by the courts or who volunteer for treatment to combat their drug dependency.

Many offenders have been convicted of acquisitive crimes such as burglary, theft from homes, shops or cars, or handling stolen goods.

The Criminal Justice Drug Team (CJDT) is the operational face of the Drug Intervention Programme in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland. The fully integrated team is jointly commissioned via the pooled treatment budget of the Drug and Alcohol Action Team - the DAAT - and the main grant of the Drug Intervention Programme.

UNDERSTANDING WORKING PRACTICES

Every month the Drug Intervention Programme randomly selects 50 cases to assess how their criminal behaviour has changed in the 12 month period following their arrest. The research shows that every month acquisitive crime rates are falling by as much as 60% and sometimes 70%.

The CJDT delivers both Tier 2 - advice and information on support services and Tier 3, which encompasses the Drug Rehabilitation Requirement, part of a community sentence ordered by the courts.

The team is linked in with the Specialist Offender Management Unit and the treatment workers are part of the multi-agency team working with Prolific and Priority offenders. In Leicester the CJDT has established operational management units that reflect the Police’s designated command areas in the city.

The units feature Police Officers, Probation’s Offender Managers, treatment workers, case administrators, and a group worker who provides a direct link to the day programme that is an integral part of treatment delivery.

However, not all cases will progress to court. ‘Conditional Cautioning’ is sometimes used for individuals arrested for using illegal substances. The ‘Conditional Cautioning’ contains a rehabilitative element that must begin within three months of the delivered caution.

TARGETING ALCOHOL MISUSE

The CJDT has also received funding to run the Alcohol Treatment Requirement, which is also part of a community sentence. Research has shown that there is a significant local need for this provision to target alcohol misuse.