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Strathclyde Police: Primary Inspection 2000

4. Partnership and Resources

Community Safety

4.1 At the time of the Inspection the Force had changed the name of the community involvement branch to the community safety department to more accurately reflect the role and direction of this important area of policing. The department was under the direction of the assistant chief constable (community safety) who had held this portfolio for only a few months prior to the inspection. Significantly the changing roles of assistant chief constables within the Force will again create a vacancy at executive level in this area. A new appointment later this year should provide a level of consistency that will ultimately benefit the department and the overall goals of the Force.

4.2 A chief superintendent aided by a superintendent, 2 chief inspectors, 4 inspectors and a constable manages the community safety department. The department act as consultants to divisions, each of which have their own community safety offices directly responsible to divisional commanders. The headquarters department also provides co-ordination of force-wide activity aimed at preventing crime and reducing the public fear of crime.

4.3 HMIC noted that the Chief Constable, with the agreement of the Police Authority had introduced a community safety initiative fund with an initial injection of £50,000 derived from monies confiscated in terms of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982, from drugs and criminal assets. Since the end of 1999, almost half of this sum has been distributed to locally based community safety fora for ongoing projects. HMIC noted this innovative and effective use of criminal assets.

4.4 In May 2000 the Force in association with approximately 60 partner organisations from the public, private and voluntary sector organised an event titled "Choices For Life" at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow. The event attracted approximately 30,000 primary 7 children, from within the Force area, 1,000 teachers and 1,000 parents of school age children. Sponsorship was provided by the partner organisations. Primary 7 pupils were targeted as the transition from primary to secondary school may increase the exposure to drugs particularly as they encounter new influences. The objectives of the event were to:

• Increase the knowledge of the danger of drugs within target groups.

• Provide children with increased motivation and skills to refuse drugs.

• Increase knowledge of current drug trends and to provide teachers with strategies for dealing appropriately with drug problems within schools.

• Bring about lasting partnerships between schools, communities and health and voluntary agencies leading to the provision of social and recreational facilities within communities.

• Increase parental awareness of current drug trends.

4.5 HMIC notes the valuable contribution by the force in this area of work.

Policy

4.6 HMIC examined the Force policy in the area of community safety. The Force has produced a booklet entitled 'community safety strategy' that is circulated to all staff. The strategy highlights the Force's vision for community safety and the role of senior management in delivering local issues. It also includes a requirement for the development of divisional level initiatives aligned to Force policy and the community safety strategy, designed to address local concerns. Senior management had recognised some weakness in the current strategy, which did not fully reflect the new emphasis of the Force or the changing role of the department. HMIC were told that a review of community safety policy was planned. The review would involve the creation of a 3-year plan, to include objectives and targets with greater emphasis on outcomes and development of performance indicators, which relate to core business. HMIC acknowledge the positive efforts made by the Force in a key area of policing and notes that the review of the community safety strategy is a priority.

Performance

4.7 The community safety departmental plan 2000-2001 details the 5 main objectives for the department during 1999-2001 and reports that 3 were achieved, one partially achieved and one not achieved. The Force has developed a total of 18 local authority/police community safety fora to pursue joint initiatives in building safer communities by targeting issues in line with the needs of the public. Currently the Force does not measure the effectiveness of its community safety partnerships but this will be considered as part of a new policy.

Working With Partners

4.8 Strathclyde Police goal number 5 is "To continue to work towards safer communities through a partnership approach founded on the Force community safety strategy". Partnership working is clearly a central theme of Force strategy. Managers have a clear awareness of the government's publication 'Safer Communities in Scotland - Guidance for Community Safety Partnerships' which requires close working with local authorities to deal with community concerns. They were aware of the Accounts Commission study of partnership working, the need for a crosscutting approach in public services, and of the social inclusion agenda of the government. The Force has a wide range of partnership activity from local community groups to voluntary organisations and other major agencies such as Health Boards. An audit of partnership activity was completed by the Force inspectorate and published in January 2000. This identified almost 600 partnership projects involving Strathclyde Police.

4.9 HMIC examined the range of partnership links for examples of contributions by the Force to local authority departments. In addition HMIC conducted a series of interviews with chief executives and directors of education and social work to gauge their levels of satisfaction and identify issues for further consideration. These issues were explored with police officers at various levels of management during the course of the Inspection. Discussions revealed a very high level of customer satisfaction among senior council officials with police co-operation which was confirmed by elected members of the Joint Police Board.

4.10 In addition to this HMIC was advised of a recent survey conducted by one local authority chief executive that identified in excess of 80 existing partnership arrangements. These involved local authority and police staff, at a variety of levels working together across a broad range of interests to improve the quality of life for those living, working or visiting the area. This is an example of effective partnership working which HMIC considers to be good practice.

4.11 HMIC also found that the effort by the Force to work with community councils and neighbourhood watches was much appreciated by representatives from these organisations. Many comments valued highly the close relationships with police, the ease of communication with senior officers, the positive and supportive attitudes demonstrated and the range of helpful activities delivered by the police, such as their contribution to drugs education for school pupils. Police support and participation in community planning and community safety groups were seen as very useful and there were many positive references to the work of community police officers at the local level (at least one officer per electoral ward).

Local Authority Liaison

4.12 A Strathclyde Police officer is deployed as a local authority liaison officer (LALO) to each of the 12 local councils. Both council officials and divisional commanders placed a high value on the work of these individuals. HMIC supports the Force's intention to review the induction and training for these posts, to provide opportunities for the LALOs to share ideas and to explore the possibilities of reciprocal arrangements where council authorities might make staff available to work in relevant departments of Strathclyde Police.

4.13 Local government reform in 1995 resulted in 12 local authorities being formed within the Strathclyde Police area. One authority, Glasgow, is the largest and is served by a number of divisions. The other authorities have conterminous boundaries with a division or a sub-division, following the Chief Constable's restructuring of the Force. This is recognised as helpful to partnership working by the local authorities and officials have expressed no concerns about working with the appropriate divisional or sub-divisional commander for their area, although initially at least one authority's elected members had concerns in dealing with a sub-divisional commander when the divisional commander was located in a neighbouring authority area. Force management are reported to have been very active in trying to address these concerns.

4.14 Restructuring has been accompanied by devolved management to empower local commanders to deal with matters raised by local authority managers. The more complex arrangement in Glasgow, with more than one divisional commander, appears to have resulted in the council directors raising matters through Force Headquarters. This may provide directors with an effective solution but can conflict with devolved management arrangements. HMIC noted that in Glasgow the LALO for the City Council was the principal conduit for liaison between the Force and the council directors rather than divisional commanders. All council staff did not share this understanding. HMIC identified this as an area for clarification and suggests the Force may wish to review the role and working practices of the LALO in the various councils, drawing on their now considerable experience of the attachments.

Joint Planning

4.15 Both council officers and police officers shared the view with HMIC that joint planning arrangements as envisaged by the government were at an early stage of development and there were a number of emerging lessons being learned about factors which promoted greater effectiveness in the management of partnerships. It was recognised that meetings should be attended by officers who had both a knowledge of the issues under discussion and the authority to reach agreements. The outcome of meetings should contribute to agreed partnership aims supported by a process leading to agreed SMART targets. These should be reviewed and evaluation conducted in the appropriate timescales. It was felt that the more successful partnership outcomes were achieved when the development of project plans began with a joint recognition of a shared problem and searched for a solution through the contribution of the expertise of all partners rather than when one partner worked up a project in some detail and tried to enlist support from other organisations at the end of the planning process.

4.16 Another common problem identified by both police and council officers was the need in some projects at least to find more than a contribution in personnel. Joint contributions of cash to a project budget were often needed but rarely found. Finally some concern was expressed that police promotion and rotation arrangements frequently removed their individuals from the partnership relationships resulting in some loss of continuity and momentum. While career progression is a normal and valuable part of police officers' working experience the Force may wish to measure the actual effect of this on their partnership working and if appropriate consider means of promoting continuity, possibly through induction or work shadowing arrangements.

The Process of Review

4.17 The reference above to the Force Inspectorate audit of partnership arrangements is evidence of the Force's willingness to review its practices. It is noted however that the Chief Constable's Annual Report does not envisage partnership working coming under Best Value Review nor is it understood that any of the Force's continuous improvement projects apply to areas of partnership work. There is evidence that some of the Force's joint projects have been evaluated, but not all. Some major investments of police time such as the work of community police officers in schools has not been subject to satisfaction surveys among headteachers and there may be advantages in discussing possibilities for such surveys jointly with directors of education. The major efforts at partnership working are in line with national strategy, are clearly appreciated by their partners and can be seen to be of benefit to the wider public. Nevertheless an effort to measure the costs and employee hours devoted to partnership activity could result in a cost benefit analysis which might indicate the forms of partnership working that are most productive.

4.18 As described earlier, for most authorities, the senior officials' contacts are with divisional or sub-divisional commanders. There is widespread satisfaction with this arrangement in terms of obtaining local operational solutions to problems and for dealing with local initiatives. A number of the senior local government officers expressed a view that the present arrangements lack the specific opportunity for strategic review of the community safety partnership arrangements and for looking strategically at cross boundary issues raised for example by the unlawful use of drugs and knifes. The Chief Constable may wish to consider establishing a formal meeting with the 12 chief executives to review strategy in advance of the annual planning process. Similarly there could be value in a standing arrangement for the 12 directors of education and social work to meet with appropriate strategic headquarter staff. These opportunities for sharing ideas and for collective activity would not detract from the independence of the 12 individual councils and would supplement the existing contacts fostered by the Force.

Victim Support

4.19 HMIC met with an area co-ordinator for victim support, the voluntary organisation which undertakes a range of services for the victims of crime, such as helping the elderly with insurance claims, supporting victims with court appearances, or arranging contact with other agencies. In preparation for the meeting the co-ordinator had contacted a number of colleagues within the Strathclyde Police area in order to reflect a more representative view on partnership working with the police.

4.20 The view was very positive with the police and victim support mutually helpful in training volunteers in the 11 local authority areas (there is no victim support organisation in Argyll & Bute) and victim support contributing to probationary constables' induction. The police also contributed to the advanced training of volunteers to work with victims of the most serious crimes. Courses were jointly designed.

4.21 Senior police officers attend victim support area service management committees with representatives of other key agencies, usually monthly, to ensure effective liaison. Victim support is one of the agencies involved in the police multi-agency racial incident monitoring groups. At an individual level, volunteers who attempt an 'honest broker' role linking victims with appropriate help, find police officers well disposed.

4.22 The key issue for victim support is the efficiency of the referral system of victims by the police. A single issue has arisen resulting in the drop in the number of referrals in Strathclyde from 29,000 a few years ago to the current 12,000. The ACPOS/Victim Support agreement, negotiated with the guidance of the Home Department and Data Protection Authorities, had encouraged automatic referral, but the force's interpretation of the 1998 Data Protection Act has led to a different approach.

4.23 While some amendment to legislation may be under consideration, pending changes the Force now tries to encourage referral by asking officers to obtain consent for referral. The drop in numbers highlight that this process is much less effective than automatic referral. This has occurred despite systems put in place by the Force to encourage officers, such as requiring crime reports to state if victim support has been accepted or declined and the tasking of Community Safety Department officers to sample 10% of crime reports to ensure compliance with the process. Crime managers also carry out checks.

4.24 The Force Inspectorate reviewed the position in 1999 and found that procedures were not being implemented uniformly across the Force. Victim support co-ordinators also experience fluctuations and inconsistencies in referral patterns across the Force area. While police managers have increased their efforts in the light of such findings all concerned seek legislation that would provide the basis for an effective referral system. Victim support offers not only emotional and practical support for victims but contributes to crime prevention work.

Prostitution

4.25 In addition to the usual legal and policing issues related to prostitution the Force recognised the major social problems affecting the pattern of prostitution found in the Strathclyde area, not least the high incidence of heroin addiction among prostitutes. It is estimated that 95% of the women working as prostitutes do so to finance their heroin addiction. It was therefore encouraging to see the Force working with health and social work partners in a Social Inclusion Partnership Scheme (SIPS) funded project (Routes out of Prostitution) targeted at women trying to escape prostitution. HMIC will be interested in the Force's experience of this project.

4.26 Since the last primary inspection the force has investigated a further 2 prostitute murders. These were the most recent in a number of such crimes stretching back to the early 1990s. In one of these cases the force embarked on the largest DNA screening test completed so far in Scotland. During 1998 the force issued prostitutes with personal attack alarms from money confiscated from criminal proceeds. HMIC acknowledges the force's efforts in this area.

Domestic Abuse

4.27 The superintendent community safety is the Force manager responsible for the co-ordination of domestic abuse policy issues, with operational responsibility resting in divisions with the sub-divisional superintendent or chief inspector. HMIC established that the Force does not have a published domestic abuse policy although this is being addressed and a draft is in the process of being produced. HMIC supports publication of the policy at the earliest opportunity.

4.28 The Force reporting procedures require officers attending domestic abuse incidents to complete a proforma report which is forwarded to their sub-divisional superintendent or chief inspector. A copy of the form is sent to the community safety department where the information is recorded on a stand-alone computer. At divisions local records are maintained on a manual card index system. The database recording domestic abuse incidents is consequently not linked to the main intelligence or command and control systems, nor is the information able to be accessed across the Force. HMIC's thematic inspection report 'Hitting Home' acknowledged that it was not vital to have networked terminals, where designated staff have the daily responsibility for managing domestic abuse incidents. There may however be opportunities for introducing appropriate technology and HMIC suggests the Force consider the benefits of such a capability during their development of IT. Without real time access to past incidents, officers responding to calls are likely to be less effective.

4.29 Strathclyde police has accepted advice, based on research, that it is preferable to make every officer accountable for appropriate action on domestic abuse and thus the Force has made the conscious decision not to form a headquarters based specialist unit of domestic abuse officers. Similarly there are no designated officers at a divisional level. Training was directed to all to raise awareness and to stress their individual responsibilities. During 1998 the Force launched an initiative aimed at the safety of women as part of the Spotlight anti-crime strategy.

4.30 Within Strathclyde Police area there are a number of Women's Aid Groups providing services to victims of domestic abuse. HMIC sampled the partnership working between the Force and the groups. Clearly there has been a very significant improvement in police officer response to domestic abuse incidents combined with development of effective relationships between the voluntary organisations and senior officers. The Chief Constable has taken a strong lead in promoting a much more effective response from the Force. In May 1999 the Force held a conference at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre (SECC), under the heading 'Action Against Abuse' which was attended by over 300 delegates from a wide range of organisations.

4.31 HMIC found that recording and monitoring of incidents has been improved, (although there are still gaps), training of officers has been supported by expertise from Women's Aid Groups and efforts are made to alert officers to repeat victims and serial offenders. Statistics on domestic abuse have been available only recently and during the year 1999-2000 the Force recorded 14,860 incidents.

4.32 The Force has supported some repeat victims by equiping them with 'Dial' alarms and mobile phones in order to summon officers quickly in the event of further attacks. Some inconsistency has been identified in officers reporting cases to the social work department if children are involved in the family. Examples of variable practice in enlisting help from Women's Aid and around the difficult task of taking statements from traumatised victims were raised with HMIC. These are areas that the Force will cover during their development of a domestic abuse policy and in addition they may wish to consider the possibility of further training in this area. In particular some of the training could take the form of short term secondments to Women's Aid groups

4.33 Many of the issues raised by a domestic abuse incident can only be resolved by a number of services working in close partnership. Issues traditionally seen as the separate province of education, social work, housing, police and health services all impinge on the needs of the victims and the abusers. The Force may wish to review the role of multi agency case work as it applies to domestic abuse when developing the new domestic abuse policy. HMIC noted the appreciation expressed by the representative of Women's Aid for the Force's recent efforts to improve performance in domestic abuse incidents.

Community Safety Initiative

4.34 HMIC noted an initiative, in a division serving an area troubled by youth disorder. The division responded to concerns from elected members and community councils by forming a team of community police officers from the area to deliver practical solutions on community safety. The team using marked and unmarked police vehicles was able to deliver effective solutions to problems with disorderly youths. The fact that the officers were known locally and adopted a non-confrontational approach to dealing with young people appeared to result in quicker solutions, more appreciation from residents and many fewer complaints from young people and their parents. This team was not an additional resource but an alternative way of deploying shift officers. The scheme provides the community police officers with increased job satisfaction and increased status in their communities as they are seen to solve problems.

Community and Race Relations

4.35 Strathclyde have for at least a decade worked to build bridges with minority ethnic communities and have developed an effective partnership with the West of Scotland Community Relations Council (WSCRC) which has assisted with police training on race issues and in resolving complaints. The Force has seconded a police sergeant for 6 months to the council and this posting is judged to be very helpful to both, in that it is improving understanding and facilitating contacts at the appropriate level to deal with any emerging problems. It is anticipated that this will be a recurring arrangement.

4.36 In 1987 the Multi-agency Racial Incident Monitoring (MARIM) Steering Group was set up within Glasgow. There are presently two main steering groups. The police steering group and the partnership steering group both of whom convene at Police Headquarters, monitor the activities of local groups, and where necessary guide and advise the groups on policy issues. The police steering group, considers issues within the Force, while the partnership group, comprising representatives from social work, education, housing and community relations councils monitor racist incidents.

4.37 The Force published their race relations policy in July 1997, which was the European year against racism. The document sets out a statement of general policy and details how liaison with communities should take place, how racially motivated incidents will be dealt with, how monitoring and evaluation should occur, and who within the Force has specific responsibilities. In early 2000 the Force launched a pilot third party reporting scheme in Govan. Five venues were identified where victims of racist crime who felt reluctant or unable to contact the Force directly are given the opportunity to report crimes to the Force via specially trained workers at community locations. Details of incidents are to be logged on forms and uplifted by a local community involvement police officer, recorded as racist incidents and the cases forwarded to a senior divisional officer for investigation. Although at the time of inspection no incidents had been reported via this mechanism the Force plan to introduce third party reporting throughout the Force area. HMIC is supportive of this initiative which reflects a positive approach and will monitor future progress.

4.38 Reported racist incidents in 1999-2000 totalled 880, representing a 67% increase on the previous year figure of 527. Of those incidents reported the Force recorded 98% as racist crimes or offences with 728 suspects subsequently identified. A 36 page guide, "Religion, Culture and Sensitivities", aims to enhance police and support staff awareness of important issues concerning the main minority ethnic groups in the Force area. The document highlights the areas most likely to be encountered by police and support staff in situations where cultural and religious sensitivities are required.

4.39 The Force provide a 2 day course, "Policing A Multi-Racial Society", for all police officers and support staff. Attendance on the course is either by self-nomination or selection by divisional commander or head of department. The course examines: the Force race relations policy; prejudice and discrimination; right wing groups and their impact on communities; immigration and asylum; language, culture and interpreting; experiences of racism in Scotland and challenging racism in the police. Case studies are an important part. The Force has reproduced the race relations policy on audio cassette tape. It is available in English, Punjabi, Chinese, Hindi, and Urdu.

4.40 The Force is determined to increase recruitment from members of black and minority ethnic communities. A range of initiatives including contacts with religious and cultural centres, presentations to community leaders, courses for young people on police work, an outdoor activity weekend, advertising campaigns and access courses are designed to help applicants with difficulties in entry tests. While the force remains positive about the need for initiatives some events were disappointing with the effort disproportionate to the tangible results. The force commitment to redouble its efforts and find new ways of reaching out deserves recognition. A further encouraging finding was the high retention rate of officers from black and minority ethnic communities. At the time of the inspection the force had a total of 44 black or minority ethnic officers. 26 officers had been recruited since 1995 and only 1 officer had resigned with a second transferring to another force.

4.41 A wider review of issues relevant to policing in a multi-ethnic community will be undertaken across all forces in the forthcoming HMIC thematic report.

Drugs

4.42 The illegal use of drugs and other substance abuse has a significant impact on many aspects of policing in Strathclyde. The Force invest a great deal of time and resources in managing their involvement in areas of enforcement and education. The co-ordination of drugs activity is the responsibility of a detective superintendent who is part of Headquarters CID structure, reporting to the assistant chief constable (crime) via the detective chief superintendent (intelligence). The co-ordinator's post is regarded as a CID function with the postholder having only informal contact with the community safety department. HMIC considers that the relationship between the departments should be more structured.

4.43 The Force is fully committed to the established Drug Action Teams (DAT's) and is represented at the 4 separate groups by the area detective superintendents supported by the drug co-ordinator. The assistant chief constable (crime) attends the Glasgow City DAT as an observer. The drug co-ordinator has a role in collating the police response and the activity generated by the DAT's. HMIC noted that neither a formal record nor minutes of the DAT meetings are circulated widely as a matter of routine. HMIC suggests that the Force consider ways of ensuring that their involvement and contribution to the DAT proceedings are recorded and circulated widely in such a way as to satisfy the need for openness, accountability and the effective management of the outputs.

4.44 The co-ordinator's position within HQ CID allows regular contact with colleagues responsible for the operational aspects of drug enforcement and this contact provided a well informed and corporate approach to tackling a wide range of relevant issues.

External Relationships

4.45 The Force have established relationships with all their local authorities and other relevant organisations such as the University of Glasgow toxicology department and the Greater Glasgow Health Board. The links have proved beneficial and a recent example of working with the education departments of North and South Lanarkshire in the provision of the "What's the Score" package designed as an educational tool for primary school children, is a further good practice example of effective partnership working. Similarly at the time of the Inspection the Force had just completed their involvement with the 'choices for life' programme involving 30,000 pupils under the age of 12 from local primary schools. (See paragraph 4.4)

4.46 HMIC noted that the Force had developed arrangements with a number of key organisations including those working with young people or involved in specific community health care and consequently had direct access with those vulnerable members of the community who were likely to come into contact with illegal substances. In this context the Force had introduced an early warning system to quickly share information about new styles and types of drugs that had the potential to cause serious health hazards.

4.47 The Force has established and documented links with HM Customs and Excise, National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS), Scottish Drug Enforcement Agency (SDEA) and other enforcement agencies through a memorandum of understanding (MOU). This single document relates to all organisations and has not been created to meet the specific needs of each individually. The Force has no similar formal arrangements with local authority bodies or the voluntary sectors, relying on co-operation through mutual consent and understanding. The Force may wish to give some further consideration to whether the MOU approach would provide greater clarity of purpose in addition to the work of the DAT's.

Staffing

4.48 The policy group established the staffing level for the Force drugs squad in consultation with the personnel department. The detective chief superintendent has the authority to reorganise in a strictly limited way without altering the existing structure. There is however the ability to adapt working practices to suit local needs when necessary. At the HMIC Inspection the squad consisted of 2 detective inspectors, 5 detective sergeants and 16 detective constables tasked with operations. This team is complemented by a 'statement of opinion' (STOP) unit, staffed by a detective sergeant and four detective constables. The STOP unit consists of experienced drugs squad officers who are used exclusively to give advice to colleagues in the Force and nationally, and to deliver 'expert opinion' testimony at courts. The opinion evidence relates to whether there is evidence of dealing and the price of drugs, (wholesale and street level). The squad is further supported by 2 operational teams (surveillance), consisting of a detective inspector, 2 detective sergeants and 15 detective constables. The introduction of the SDEA has identified a total of 47 new posts for the Force, a proportion of which will be allocated to drugs enforcement activity. The recruitment of additional drug squad officers will challenge the Force in terms of finding suitable accommodation, as the current location is a small basement room of headquarters. However the cramped and somewhat uncomfortable conditions did not appear to affect the high morale of the staff.

Performance

4.49 HMIC invited the department head and those responsible for managing the daily activity of the drug squad, to demonstrate their effectiveness. This proved a little problematic in that, like some other headquarters departments, the Force drug squad does not set specific targets but works towards achieving the corporate goals. HMIC noted that headquarters intelligence department was working towards 'costing activity', which had so far been restricted to monitoring overtime and expenses incurred during recent surveillance operations. HMIC supports the concept that groups based centrally should be seen as contributing to Force goals and be acting in support of territorial divisions. However there need to be measures of how effective such groups are in making that contribution. Input information is not in itself sufficient. HMIC suggests the Force consider how best the performance of all the support departments can be measured.

4.50 HMIC had the opportunity to speak to staff involved in all aspects of drug squad work and found high levels of motivation and personal satisfaction. The relatively low levels of absence through sickness support this view. Just prior to HMI's visit the drug squad STOP unit had been awarded a Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) bronze award. The award is made in recognition of excellence within local government in Scotland and continuous improvements in levels of performance for the benefit of the wider community. HMIC commends the unit for securing this award.

4.51 During 1999 Strathclyde was one of only 2 Scottish forces involved in the Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring (ADAM) study. The research work involved testing and interviewing persons arrested in a division of the Force, to establish the presence or otherwise of a range of legal and illegal drugs. The programme ran between July and August 1999 and the efforts of all involved contributed towards a Scottish Executive report on this subject, published in July 2000. This work will make an important contribution to future crime policy and practice.

4.52 Table 'L' highlights statistical information gathered by the Force during the past 3 years concerning the number of persons stopped and searched for possession of illegal substances and the number of drugs search warrants executed. Table 'M' details the types and approximate quantities of drugs seized in the Force area during 1999-2000.

Table L - Stop and Search and Drug Warrants

Table M - Drug seizures

Drug Deaths

4.53 Deaths from drug related causes continues to be a major concern for the Force, who work closely with the toxicology department of Glasgow University to monitor and produce statistically relevant information. Drug deaths are recorded on a calendar year basis and Figure 'N' represents the extent of the problem over the past 6 years

Table N - Drug Deaths

4.54 The figures fluctuate but in 1999 there was a significant year on year increase of 41%. The Force has completed a detailed analysis of the circumstances of all of the 1999 drug deaths, and has produced a strategic report that identifies a broad range of potentially contributing factors as well as statistics about the individuals and their lifestyles. HMIC acknowledges the value and importance of this step and will be interested to note how this information contributes to planned action.

4.55 During the Inspection HMIC visited a major incident room where the HOLMES computer system was being used to manage the highly publicised investigation into a pattern of related drug deaths. The adoption of a multi-agency approach to this particularly tragic and difficult enquiry was swift and effective and this joint approach represents good practice.

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