Chucking it down the drain - some unintended consequences of reclassification

Hamish Warburton
Institute for criminal policy research

Ground covered

Background to reclassification
Reclassification - what it means and howit's intended to work
Informal action and police discretion
Deciding between arrest and informal action
Reclassification; Some unintended consequences

Background to reclassification

Growing public pressure
Independent inquiry into the Misuse of drugs act 1971
Politicisation of the cannabis debate
The Lambeth experiment
The 'big' announcement
The media turns sour
Police opposition to the reform

Reclassification - how it's intended to work

The government's 'fix' to a tricky political situation
- cannabis was reclassified to class C (which, importantly , meant the offence would have become non-arrestable)
- However, the police and criminal evidence act (1984) was amended to maintain the power of arrest

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) produced guidanceaimed at discouraging the police from using this power, except in certain specified circumstances

ACPO guidance stated that:
"The law is being amended in parliament so that it will continue to be defined as an arrestable offence, but the presumption should be against using this power for simple possession offences

Informal action and police discretion

Realistic options open to officers pre-reclassification:

Arrest - followed by caution of prosecution
Formal street warning, confiscating the cannabis
Warning the suspect informally, and disposing of the cannabis (eg down the drain)
Turning a blind eye and ignoring the offence completely

The debate about reclassification paid little attention to ways in which police officers on the street dealt with cannabis offences

Deciding between arrest and informal action

We interviewed 150 police officers in four sites in England:
31% arrested regardless of circumstance
- Some felt strongly about the principle of enforcing the law
- Some were concerned about allegations of mal practice and corruption
69% had conducted an informal disposal at some point during their career
- Reasons for this include: the amount of cannabis found, the harms associated with a criminal record, the demeanor of the suspect, and the time and effort spent making the arrest

The potential for bias and variation

Informal action can be biased
Regional differences existed
- In force A, 62 out of 76 officers had used informal action
- In force B, 41 out of 74 officers had used informal action
- fewer officers in the rural division in force B had conducted informal action

The best predictors of the use of informal disposals included: previous cannabis use, force areas and length of service.

What about informal disposals?

The debate about reclassification paid little attention to the issue of informal action
We established that informal disposals are not uncommon
Various factors influence an officers decision to take informal action
How will reclassification effect the use if informal disposals? what implications does this have?

Reduced informal warning - net widening

Street warnings might take the place of informal disposals - a form of net widening
Why might this happen?
- The new process is less bureaucratic
- The new warning is less serious than a caution
- Protection against accusations of malpractice
- A street warning for cannabis counts as a detectable offence

What are the potential consequences?

- It could undermine gains in police / community relations
- It could undermine resource arguments for reform

Will this future become a reality?

Increased informal action - selective decriminalisation

The alternative is that the use of informal disposals increases
Why might this happen?
- Reclassification could be perceived to reflect a 'step change' in policing of cannabis
- Removal of the formal requirement of arrest

Potential benefits:
- Saving in time and money
- A totally unobtrusive form of policing for users

Potential costs
- Poorly regulated low-level policing
- Discretion could be applied in a discriminatory way
- Which could lead to selective decriminalization

Thinking about informal disposals:

Decisions about the implementation of the new arrangements have been left to individual forces, and maybe devolved further to divisional commanders
Supervision by sergeants and inspectors will be important
- Some may demand strict adherence to the ACPO guidance, which may generate a relaxed atmosphere to cannabis policing and an increase in informal disposals
- Some forces might be happy for large volumes of cannabis offenders to he arrested

Handling possession offences is an important policy issue, not just an operational matter
Do we tolerate a growth in geographic disparities in cannabis policing?
Avoid disparities but tailoring styles of policing to local need, an alternative
Generating accountability
It remains to be seen exactly how reclassification will work in practice