§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the central drug squad was established; what was its original establishment size and what has been the central establishment of both civilian and uniformed personnel each year since its creation.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1986, c. 336]: The central drug squad was formed in January 1978 with an establishment of 37 police officers and five civil staff. The police establishment rose to 38 during 1981; and last year the establishment was increased to 57 police officers and six civil staff.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will provide a breakdown by rank of the officers in the central drug squad, the national drugs intelligence unit and the divisional drugs squad.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1986, c. 336]: The strengths of the central drug squad and the national drugs intelligence unit on 16 July were 57 and 39 respectively. The Commissioner considers that to give a breakdown by rank of their strength could compromise their operational effectiveness.
For divisional drugs squads the breakdown by rank as at 16 July 1986 was as follows:
Number Detective inspector 3 Detective sergeant 14 Police sergeant 5 Detective constable 24 Police constable 35 TOTAL 81
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) how many drugs raids were carried out by the district-divisional drugs squads in each year since 1979;
(2) for the most convenient recent period, what was the percentage of referrals for investigation of drug offences emanating from (a) the police, (b) the public and (c) other agencies and institutions in the Metropolitan police area;
(3) if he will estimate the number of Metropolitan police working hours spent on drugs-related investigations in the past 12 months;
(4) if he will estimate the number of Metropolitan police officers involved in drug raids during the past 12 months.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his replies, 14 July 1986, c. 336]: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis has informed me that this information is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drugs raids were completed by the central drug squad in each year since 1979.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1986, c. 336]: Figures for the number of premises searched by officers of the central drug squad are available only from 1982 and are as follows:
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Number 1982 108 1983 278 1984 172 1985 268 *1986 195 * to 30 June.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will detail the number of prosecutions in respect of offences relating to each listed and prohibited drug within the Metropolitan police district for each of the past five years.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1986, c. 336]: The information requested for the years 1980 to 1984 is given in the table. Corresponding information for 1985 is not yet available.
Persons* proceeded against in the Metropolitan police district for offences under drugs legislation or other offences involving controlled drugs Number of persons Type of drug 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Cocaine 194 228 195 267 344 Heroin 392 376 388 546 894 Methcdone 185 282 288 297 294 Dipipanone 85 101 183 120 55 LSD 73 99 101 93 93 Cannabis 5,004 5,390 6,609 7,448 6,518 Amphetamines 227 291 407 536 637 Other controlled drugs 502 533 581 684 643 All drugs 6,012 6,554 7,977 9,104 8,541 * As the same person may be proceeded against for offences involving more than one drug, rows cannot be added together to produce totals.
Seizures* of controlled drugs by police officers in the Metropolitan Police district by drug type 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 Type of Drug Number †Quantity Number †Quantity Number †Quantity Number †Quantity Number †Quantity (grammes) (grammes) (grammes) (grammes) (grammes) Cannabist‡ 4,613 469,422 5,374 221,764 6,357 290,506 7,320 212,455 7,351 267,743 Heroin 344 1,149 351 5,128 331 3,247 586 8,335 1,144 33,413 Cocaine 191 3,336 205 3,565 157 6,201 320 4,057 438 23,904 LSD 73 0.3 81 0.2 95 0.3 97 0.2 112 0.6 *As the same seizure can involve more than one drug type, rows cannot be added together to produce totals. †Seizures of unspecified amounts are not included. ‡Includes cannabis plants, cannabis saliva, cannabis resin, cannabis liquid and extracts of cannabis.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what personnel are employed by the Metropolitan police on maintaining liaison between the drugs squads and Customs and Excise officers.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1986, c. 337]: No officers are deployed by the Commissioner to act solely in an operational liaison capacity with Her Majesty's Customs and Excise. There is, however, continuing close liaison: drugs squads officers work in close co-operation with Customs officers where operational needs so require; and central drug squad officers visit Her Majesty's Customs and Excise as part of their induction course. The national drugs intelligence unit,
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§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many black and Asian personnel are employed in the central, national intelligence and divisional drug squads.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1986, c. 336]: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that there are no ethnic minority police officers or civil staff assigned to the central drug squad or divisional drug squads at the moment. Two police officers and three civil staff attached to the national drugs intelligence unit are from ethnic minorities.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many weeks' training are given to officers in (a) the central drug squad, (b) the national drugs intelligence unit and (c) the divisional drugs squads.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1986, c. 336]: The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis tells me that all recruit and probationer training programmes cover drugs and that further drugs training is given to detectives. Officers joining the central drug squad undergo an intensive one-week induction course; a similar course is provided for officers posted to the national drugs intelligence unit, followed by three weeks of intelligence analysis and computer training. No additional training is provided for divisional drugs squad officers.
§ Mr. Tony Banksasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the total amount of (a) cannabis, (b) heroin, (c) cocaine and (d) LSD, seized by police officers in the Metropolitan police area for each of the past five years.
§ Mr. Giles Shaw[pursuant to his reply, 14 July 1986, c. 336]: The information for the years 1980 to 1984 is given in the table. Corresponding information for 1985 1s not yet available.
which is staffed by officers from the Metropolitan police, provincial forces and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, acts as a point of liaison between police forces and Her Majesty's Customs and Excise, in addition to its intelligence functions.