Read
our original letter - click here
This
is the reply, dated 17th June 2003, we received from Staffordshire police in response
to our letter concerning the use of a laptop to randomly drug test customers of
pubs, clubs and festivals in Staffordshire - click here
for the full story.
| Thank
you for your letter addressed to the Chief Constable. Mr Giffard has asked me
to reply on his behalf. I
have forwarded your letter to Acting Inspector Russell Cartlidge at Stafford Police
Station. Acting Inspector Cartlidge will consider your letter and provide you
with a suitable response in due course. Please
do not hesitate to contact Acting Inspector Cartlidge at Stafford Police Station
if he can be of any further assistance. Yours
sincerely, Chief
Inspector Maurice Mason
Chief Constable's Staff Officer |
We
then received the following letter, dated 23rd June:
| Your
letter concerning the use of drug testing technology has been referred to me for
attention. Before I reply in detail to the quests you raise, I would like to establish
the reason for your interest in this area. I
can assure you that before we introduce this type of technology, we satisfy ourselves
that the equipment is of the required standard and that we are acting within the
law. Yours
faithfully, Keith
Walker
Crime
Manager |
We
replied:
| Re:
Your reply of 23rd June to my enquiry regarding drug testing technology and its
use at the VFestival. I
am not entirely sure why my reasons for asking my original questions are relevant
to the reply you may give and hence I found your reply somewhat difficult to understand.
Nonetheless I shall try and elaborate. I
have been following the use of this technology since December 2002, as well as
the Government's statements regarding the reclassification and new policing regime
proposed for cannabis, and its declared intention to tackle the dealers of the
drugs which apparently cause the most harm, heroin and crack cocaine. I cannot
see how this scheme fits into the stated aims of the policy regarding drugs. I
also note the police in Essex, the other site for the V Festival, have ruled out
the use of this technology citing human rights concerns as well as the likely
effectiveness of this approach as reasons not to use the same tactics. The use
of mass screening was also ruled out for the recent Glastonbury festival. On
a personal note, as a citizen and tax-payer of this country I am liable to both
be subjected to such a test myself and may be by default effectively helping fund
this project. Taking
the above into consideration, I feel that I and indeed the general public deserve
to know the answers to my questions, and hence I look forward to your answers
to my initial query. Many
thanks for your help on this matter.
|
Some
time passed during which we heard nothing in reply. Following CakeMedia's statement
that this style of testing was no longer being planned for the V Festival we sent
a reminder letter, adding on the question of why this change in plans had been
made.
| Re:
Your reply of 23rd June to my enquiry regarding drug testing technology and its
use at the VFestival. I
am still awaiting a reply for my original letter, however I wonder if you could
answer a further query within your reply. Subsequent
to my initial letter, a group of drug law reform activists I am involved with
have become interested about this system of drug testing, and as a group share
my concerns. Together we are writing an article about this, as we believe the
questions I ask are in the public interest and a concern to many people outside
our group. In
order to represent all sides of the story we contacted the organisers of V Festival,
who forwarded our questions to their PR company, CakeMedia. CakeMedia have given
us a statement which states that Staffordshire Police now have no plans to carry
out this sort of mass drug screening of attendees to the festival. Can you confirm
that this is indeed the case, and if so, the reasons why this decision has been
made. In
addition, does this decision mean that the mass screening of people attending
pubs and clubs in Stafford has also stopped - and if not, why not? |
We
subsequently wrote to the Sunday Times, who wrote the original article connecting
this style of mass drug testing to the V Festival to ask them to see if they could
follow up this story, and help us find out whether this testing had been cancelled
and elicit the details that so far had not been disclosed to us. Co-incidentally,
the next day Staffordshire Police replied as follows:
| There
is not, and never has been any intention to "mass screen" people attending
the V2003 festival at Weston Park. You rightly state in your first letter that
there will be a capacity audience, which would make it impossible to carry out
the type of screening you refer to. You
ask a number of questions about the technology itself. I am not a technical person
so would not begin to try and explain how it works. We have purchased a drug-testing
machine from a reputable supplier which is manufacture to a high specification
and can be calibrated to test a wide variety of drugs. The manufacturers are confident
in their produce and are prepared to attend any Court to explain the technology
and its accuracy. The
use of the machine within Chase Division of Staffordshire Police has been discussed
with the Crown Prosecution Service who are happy for us to use it to test for
drugs. The
test itself can be compared to the breathalyser test. It is merely a screening
test to indicate whether an individual has been in contact with drugs. Unlike
the breathalyser, the drug test is voluntary - you do not have to subject yourself
to it if you do not wish to. On
occasions we conduct operations in partnership with public houses and night clubs.
In these circumstances, the police are invited in by the management of the premises
to assist them in reducing the use of illegal substances. People are identified
at random by the staff of the pub / club and they are invited to take a test.
If an individual refuses the test, the licensee or management will decide whether
to allow him/her entry. Refusal to take a test does not, in itself, give the police
grounds to conduct a search. If
a test is positive, this gives the police grounds to search the person in accordance
with the Misuse of Drugs Act. If the search reveals illegal substances then the
person will be arrested and dealt with. If the search is negative, no further
action is taken. You
will no doubt be aware of the research which reveals that the majority of crime
is committed by individuals to feed a drug habit. You will also be aware that
possession of controlled drugs in a criminal offence. Drug abuse destroys lives
and Staffordshire Police are determined to target drug dealers who cause misery
and suffering in our communities. You
may also be aware that crime in Staffordshire has been reduced by over 8% this
year. I believe that the targeting of drugs dealers and drug markets has had a
significant impact on this reduction. |
They claimed that the mass screening was not and had never intended to be used
at the V Festival, in direct contradiction of the Sunday
Times article, which clearly stated: "Police plan to use the machine
for the first time when the three bands play at the V2003 festival at Weston Park,
Staffordshire, in August."
With
regard to the policy of its use in clubs and pubs, the letter from the police
also seems to differ with this
description of the policy of its use from the Daily Telegraph - "Police
have warned that anyone refusing will automatically arouse suspicion and have
told establishments that do not co-operate that it will be held against them when
their licences come up for renewal."
UKCIA
have written back to the police in order to attempt to explain these discrepancies
and ask for the details of the company who sold them this machine so we can get
more technical details on it. Whilst we are glad that this test is not to be used
at V Festival and encouraged by the claim that refusing the test does not constitute
grounds for a search, we fear that the majority of our questions and concerns
have not been answered as yet.
