Freedom of Information Request Reference N o : FOI 005896-17 I write in connection with your request for information received by Suffolk Constabulary on the 31 July 2017 in which you sought access to the following information: Could you please tell me the number of people arrested for drugs possession (not with intent to supply) every year in the last five years? Could you also tell me the number of those same people who went on to be charged for possession of drugs? Could you please collate the yearly data from April to April. Could you please separate the data according to the classes A, B and C (not including anabolic steroids) of the drugs relating to the arrests/charges. Response to your Request The response provided below is correct as of 31 July 2017 Suffolk Constabulary has considered your request for information and the response is below. A search has been carried out via the force crime recording systems against drugs possession for the past 5 financial years. The below tables provide statistics on the number of arrests and charges for drugs possession. Please note that the Constabulary changed our crime recording system in October 2015 to Athena, the arrest data from Athena does not split the Class B and C drugs and so these have been categorised together. STATISTICS Police forces in the United Kingdom are routinely required to provide crime statistics to government bodies and the recording criteria is set nationally. However, the systems used for recording these figures are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the crime data. It should be noted that for these reasons this force's response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other response you may receive. ATHENA Please be aware that the information provided/researched from the 19 October 2015 has been extracted from the Athena crime system. The information provided is subject to change as processes are amended to ensure accurate and precise crime recording.
Arrests for possession of drugs Arrest reason 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 Total Attempt to possess a controlled drug of Class B - Amphetamine 1 1 Drugs - Possess Class A 44 216 260 Drugs - Possess Class B or C 57 370 427 Possess a class C controlled drug 16 33 30 16 95 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Cocaine 94 118 91 38 341 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Crack Cocaine 22 23 19 16 80 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Heroin 80 87 69 27 263 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - LSD 3 1 4 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - MDMA 12 22 20 10 64 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Methadone 7 6 1 2 16 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Other 35 39 42 26 142 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Amphetamine 40 39 43 8 130 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Cannabis / Cannabis Resin 508 451 423 279 1661 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Cathinone derivative 3 2 1 6 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Ketamine 3 9 12 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Other 11 18 13 14 56 Possess a controlled drug of Class C - Ketamine 22 24 2 48 Possess class B controlled drug - cannabis (pre Feb 2004) 1 1 Possess methylamphetamine a class A controlled drug 1 1 Grand Total 852 863 758 549 586 3608
Charges for possession of drugs Charge 12/13 13/14 14/15 15/16 16/17 Total Attempt to possess a controlled drug of Class B - Amphetamine 6 6 Drugs - Possess Class A 16 117 133 Drugs - Possess Class B or C 34 185 219 Possess a class C controlled drug 12 14 6 32 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Cocaine 33 56 37 16 142 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Crack Cocaine 10 13 15 11 49 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Heroin 60 54 34 16 164 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - LSD 0 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - MDMA 4 11 10 6 31 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Methadone 1 1 1 1 4 Possess a controlled drug of Class A - Other 8 10 5 5 28 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Amphetamine 22 17 24 4 67 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Cannabis / Cannabis Resin 285 255 239 138 917 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Cathinone derivative 1 1 1 3 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Ketamine 2 3 5 Possess a controlled drug of Class B - Other 4 7 6 6 23 Possess a controlled drug of Class C - Ketamine 13 13 26 Possess class B controlled drug - cannabis (pre Feb 2004) 1 1 Possess methylamphetamine a class A controlled drug 0 Grand Total 448 449 388 263 302 1850
Should you have any further queries concerning this request, please contact Clair Pack, FOI Decision Maker, quoting the reference number shown above. A full copy of the Freedom of Information Act (2000) can be viewed on the Office of Public Sector Information web-site; http://www.opsi.gov.uk/ Suffolk Constabulary is not responsible for the content, or the reliability, of the website referenced. The Constabulary cannot guarantee that this link will work all of the time, and we have no control over the availability of the linked pages.
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