Police State

Give addicts heroin, says officer
BBC News
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Heroin should be prescribed to drug addicts to curb crime, the deputy chief constable of Nottinghamshire has said at a drugs conference.

Howard Roberts told an Association of Chief Police Officers' conference in Manchester the idea should be assessed.

He said the treatment would cost £12,000 a year per addict but added that drug users steal property valued at an average of £45,000 a year.

The idea is being piloted in London, the South East and North of England.

'Terrible consequences'

"At the moment across the country we see levels of burglary, robbery and murder being committed by drug-fuelled addicts who are doing so in order to get the money to buy the drugs," Mr Roberts told the conference.

"One of the things I have found is that as a treatment it has been highly effective in actually helping to reduce crime.

"We've seen good levels of falls in drug-related acquisitive crime.

"However, there is still a considerable problem and what I am suggesting is that we need to explore, as part of a treatment programme, the prescribing of heroin to addicts in order to take them out of the illegal market."

He added: "Of course, getting people off drugs altogether must be the objective.

"But I do believe that we have lived with the terrible consequences of relatively uncontained addiction for far too long.

"If we are to make a greater impact we need to fundamentally address the method of operation of the criminal market-place for heroin."

Improve treatment

The manager of a Nottinghamshire-based support service for families of drug users supported the police chief's call.

"I'm delighted that police are taking drug treatment options more seriously and have been doing so over the last few years," said Nina Dauban, manager of Mansfield-based Hetty's.

"In the past police have been forced to go down the enforcement and criminal justice route that doesn't always solve the problem.

"There is a lot of criminality around drugs, reducing the level of criminality is really important in improving treatment for addicts.

"All tribute to him saying this. It is typical of Nottinghamshire Police not to be frightened to speak about their convictions.

"We're not here to win a popularity contest - we're out to improve services for drug users."

Martin Barnes, chief executive of drugs charity DrugScope, said: "There is compelling evidence that heroin prescribing, although more expensive than some forms of drug treatment, is cost-effective in reducing drug-related crime and other costs to communities."

Nicola Metrebian, from the charity Action on Addiction, said they were doing research which would "compare the effectiveness of injectable methadone and injectable heroin to oral methadone" for a group of hard to treat heroin users.

In the Department of Health pilots, 300 to 400 drug users receive heroin for their addiction.

Similar schemes in Holland and Switzerland reported some users turning away from crime.

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NYPD Installs "Sky Watch" In Harlem Neighborhood
NY 1
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The NYPD has installed a patrol tower in a Harlem neighborhood in an effort to cut crime in the high-risk neighborhood.

The two-story booth tower, called Sky Watch, gives the officer sitting inside a better vantage point from which to monitor the area. Officers in the booth have access to a spotlight, sensors, and four cameras. The tower is portable and can be moved to the areas that need it most.

Residents in Harlem say they like the idea, though some wonder if the appearance of Sky Watch has anything to do with the two new luxury condos built on a nearby corner.

"There was crime around here before and they never had it. Now all these expensive buildings, it's true,” said one area resident. “But actually it's good though, because then I used to see a lot of crowd here and sometimes I was scared to pass here, but guess what, that doesn't happen anymore. It’s a kind of deterrence and it's good."

Police say the Harlem tower was placed there to combat a rise in murders.

Sky Watch has also been tested in Crown Heights in Brooklyn where it reduced crime. Police are hoping to have three more towers soon.

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UCLA officers allowed to use tasers for "pain compliance"
Fox 11
Wednesday, November 22, 2006

The University of California Los Angeles, where an investigation into the use of a Taser gun against a student is under way, appears to be the only UC campus that allows officers to stun noncombative suspects as well as those putting up a fight.

Police at six of the 10 UC campuses carry Taser guns. Most are restricted to only using the guns against violent suspects, according to interviews with top UC law enforcement officials.

UCLA's police rules, however, allow officers to use Tasers on passive resisters as "a pain compliance technique," Assistant Chief Jeff Young said last week.

Officers can use the weapons after considering the potential injury to police and to the suspect, as well as the level of the suspect's resistance and the need for prompt resolution, he said.

Taser use was put into the spotlight after UCLA senior Mostafa Tabatabainejad, 23, was repeatedly stunned Nov. 14 when he refused to show his student ID to officers doing a late night check at Powell Library, according to authorities. Tabatabainejad said through his lawyer he didn't want to produce his ID because he thought he was being singled out because of his Middle Eastern appearance.

Video footage of the incident posted on the Internet showed Tabatabainejad screaming and writhing on the computer lab floor. The stun guns are made by Scottsdale-based Taser International.

In interviews with the Los Angeles Times, police officials at UC San Diego, Riverside, Irvine and Merced said officers only use the weapons against suspects who pose a physical risk. They did not comment specifically on the UCLA incident.

"It can only be used when it appears reasonable under the circumstances to restrain or arrest a violent or threatening suspect," said UC Riverside Police Chief Michael Lane.

Taser use is "authorized when facing a violent or potentially violent individual," said UC Irvine Police Chief Paul Henisey.

Police Chief Rita Spaur of UC Merced said officers would not deploy a Taser unless "it was the last means to protect themselves" or other people.

UCLA police bought 16 Taser stun guns two years ago, said Nancy Greenstein, UCLA's director of police community services.

Police at UC campuses in Berkeley, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and Santa Barbara are not equipped with Tasers.