NPCC Drug Threat Lead: Expert witnesses make a ‘huge difference’ in tackling serious and organised crime

Expert witnesses make a ‘huge difference’ in tackling serious and organised crime.pdf

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INSIGHT: NPCC Drug Threat Lead: Expert witnesses make a ‘huge difference’ in tackling serious and organised crime 6th January 2020

Tina Orr Munro - Editor,

Policing Insight

NPCC Drug Threat Lead Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Lay is also President of the Drug Expert Witness & Valuation Association (DEWVA).

The following is adapted from Det Ch Supt Lay’s opening address at last year’s DEWVA conference where he outlined the current drug threat and the role expert witnesses play in tackling it. The landscape is continually changing in policing. As President of the Drug Expert Witness & Valuation Association (DEWVA) and a senior detective I have wanted to ensure that drugs remain in the forefront of conversation and discussion when introducing government strategy and that DEWVA is identified and seen as a principal stakeholder having a clear voice and representation at a national level. I have sought to promote the professionalism of DEVWA as it its experience, knowledge and guidance that is critical to influencing national conversations and policy. Last year, I created the National Drugs Tactical Working Group with the principal purpose to influence government and provide a platform to identify current threats and raise emerging issues in the drugs market. The attendees and influence of this meeting have grown, and we now have subject matter leads from Policing/NCA/UKBA/Prisons/UK Anti-Doping/ MHRA/Home Office.

It is important for me that DEWVA has a platform to raise issues its Chairman Richard Gregory and other members of the DEWVA committee are regular attendees. The Home Office has introduced an illicit commodities board. This was specifically set up to discuss the current violent, drugs and firearms threat. Both myself and DCC Jason Harwin, the current national NPCC lead for drugs, are invited to this meeting and it is an influential platform that allows us to feed in updates from the DEVWA committee. Current situation Figures from Public Health England estimate that there are 300,000 heroin and crack users in England and Wales with County Lines estimated to have 2000 active tentacles into dominating this high demand lucrative market. There is an undeniable link to rising knife crime in all police areas and significant rise in incidents involving young people.

The UK remains Europe’s largest drugs market for cocaine, heroin, crack cocaine and stimulant leisure drugs such as Ecstasy – with a significant cannabis market continuing to dominate debates about legalisation or regulated supply. Drugs review – Dame Carol Black In February this year, Dame Carol Black was appointed to lead a major independent review of illegal drug use and supply in the UK. The aim of the review was to provide a comprehensive picture of the use and supply of illicit drugs and to identify what more could be done to reduce harm to individuals and society.

The initial stage of the wideranging review is looking at who misuses drugs, what they are taking, and how often in order to build the most in-depth and comprehensive picture of this issue to date. It is also examining the drivers behind recent trends such as the increased recreational use of class A drugs by young adults. The Review will report its findings to the Home Secretary this autumn. Bedfordshire Drugs Market Profile As a police service we have traditionally targeted supply, yet this is driven by demand. Only by understanding the size and the nature of that demand can we appreciate the consequent threats: to our users, to victims of crime and to those caught up in associated violence and exploitation. Only when we are so informed can we collectively work together with partners, informed by the drugs profile, to actively focus on reducing the harms and the call upon our services.

I commissioned a drugs market profile in my own force last year and I have presented the findings to a number of conferences over the past few months to highlight the significant findings and to encourage forces to undertake similar profiles. The reason I did this was that we know that drugs are the principal driver of all crime and yet it seemed inconceivable that we didn’t know the true extent of drug dependency and the causative impact on our communities and services in our force areas. It was clear that this was a real gap in intelligence for us and our partners. How could policing expect to have an impact on crime if it didn’t fully understand its drugs market? Nationally, in 57% of homicides the victim are known either to be using or dealing drugs. Home Office analysis estimates that 70 to 80% of gun crime is drug related.

The Serious Violence Strategy, launched by the Home Secretary in April 2018, re-emphasises the point that the drugs market is identified as one of the main drivers for serious violence. The standout finding of this profile are the estimated 34,000 drug users in Bedfordshire each with different levels of use. This represents 9 % of the population of the County, aged between 16 and 59 years old. I wanted to use the findings to evidence and draw a straight line from drugs to violent crime. HACAA – Heroin and Crack Action Areas I want to outline the work of HACAA – Heroin and Crack Action Area – which has assisted in complimenting the drug profile work. Funding was made available by the Home Office as part of the Serious Violence Strategy to provide space for partners to consider their response and focus on three key areas to reduce demand on health and policing.

The three areas are:

1. Preventing the exploitation of vulnerable people including better connections between Custody and Public Health (Liaison and Diversion)

2. Protecting Users including helping users gain more successful treatment, reacting quickly to contaminated drugs and reducing drug related deaths looking at support for released prisoners with addiction.

3. Tackling Serious Violence including creating a more hostile environment for drug dealers and restricting supply.

HACAA is now commissioned in a number of other regions in the United Kingdom. As with a number of these strategies, though, it requires funding and longevity to maximise the benefits to society. Drugs markets are saturated with suppliers. We have seen the explosion of county lines and feuds that stem from competition and rivalry. Austerity across all our services and, for policing, the changing of force priorities towards vulnerability and safeguarding together with the demise of force drugs squads has significantly contributed to the current rise in drug dealing gangs and associated violence. We now have the unenviable situation whereby we see our young people at their greatest risk from harm. Drug-related deaths continue to be at a high and as a consequence of this together with youth violence and County Lines exploitation, attention is back on aspects of the drugs threat with increasing research, media coverage and commentators in general.

This creates two major implications for expert witnesses. 1. Their roles are well placed to put them at the forefront of responses. 2. Their knowledge and practices must be maintained at the pinnacle of professionalism. While the potential to have high impact influence upon criminal justice outcomes provides this field the opportunity to shine, the dangers of not being fully informed, not understanding current criminal business models and, importantly, criminal exploitation within drug supply create dangers to reputation, consistency and integrity. Utilising DEWVA membership and wider services, guidance, CPD, training and open source material is key to ensuring individuals and groups uphold the highest standards with well-informed understanding. Expert witnesses background has much to offer.

Describing the functions of County Lines, how exploitation has been achieved to secure drugs to market, interpreting telephone material and painting the wider picture are all crucial ingredients for a high impact prosecution and outcome. Much of what I say I know is well understood by expert witnesses, but it is vital that the key messages are fed back to forces. Drugs needs to feature in its own right or as a key priority within your control strategy.

Expert witnesses should continue to be proud of the influences they bring to the decision to charge, guilty pleas, reduced or negated trial, sentencing and proceeds of crime hearings; all adding value, saving time, releasing resources, reducing costs and informing accurate decisions. I know how hard it can be to get colleagues at times to understand the complexities of their work but they make a huge difference and impact upon organised crime. I wanted to personally take this opportunity to thank them for their commitment to the role of drug expert and for the support they have given me as President.

Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Lay was speaking at the Drug Expert Witness & Valuation Association Annual Professional Development Event, 11-12 November 2019, in Stratford-upon-Avon. This year’s event is scheduled for 16-17, November. For further details, contact DEWVA. About the Drug and Expert Witness & Valuation Association (DEWVA) The aim of DEWVA is two-fold. Firstly, it provides professional development opportunities for officers involved in giving opinion evidence by way of delivering national and regional seminars in line with the legal definition of an expert witness. The second aim is to promote this important role, ensuring that officers get the appropriate support from supervisors and forces to maintain and develop their knowledge.

Membership is open to Law Enforcement drug experts in the UK and overseas. More information can be found here Kenny Simpson Award for Excellence Each year, the ‘Kenny Simpson Award for Excellence’ is awarded in memory of Kenny Simpson, a renowned drug policy expert and long serving member of Police Scotland and the SCDEA as well as a highly influential member of DEWVA. This year’s recipient is Dr David Potter who works for GM Pharmaceuticals, a Home Office approved Cannabis research facility on the South Coast of England. Dr Potter has assisted DEWVA in training Drugs Expert Witnesses and peer reviewed many best guidance documents developed by the association.