A new scheme to tackle persistent offenders with a drug habit has been launched in Northamptonshire. The pilot project was prompted after police dealt with a heroin addict who admitted committing more than 600 offences to fund a �200 a day habit.
Western Area Police then proposed the partnership scheme involving officers, the Probation Service, Northants County Council, and the Drug Action Team.
The Daventry Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership is also involved.
The aim is to share information about persistent offenders to pinpoint whether their offending is linked to drug use.
Drug addiction tackled
Ch Insp John Jones, operations manager for Western Area Police, said prison alone could not deal with the minority of people who commit the vast majority of crimes.
The heroin addict who committed more than 600 offences had been imprisoned before but officers said his drug problem needed to be dealt with to stop him committing crime.
"Putting people like our persistent offenders into prison does not deal with the root cause of their criminal behaviour because it does not end their drug dependency" said Mr Jones.
The police could not tackle the problem on their own. Instead, other agencies were being brought into the pilot scheme in the Western Area to monitor if people would benefit from treatment orders rather than a prison sentence.
"This approach can only work by involving all the relevant agencies and ensuring that we are all prepared to share information that we would usually regard as confidential," Mr Jones added.
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