Clause 8 - Extended detention of suspected drug offenders
Drugs Bill
5:15 pm
Ms Caroline Flint (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (reducing organised and international crime, anti drugs co-ordination and international and European issues), Home Office; Don Valley, Labour)
The clause arose because front-line police officers said that they would find it helpful in certain circumstances to have the power that we propose. As I said, we have the customs model of how the power should be applied and we shall consider how the police will use it. A force will have to consider equipping one or more custody suites for these purposes but the proposal will not necessarily be used disproportionately. As the police will initiate the request to the magistrates, they will be able to consider the issue of control on officer time and how the process will be managed. Obviously they will have to consider special facilities which may or may not be the same as those for the customs, which has access to see-through toilets, for example.
Forces will have to think about these issues as part and parcel of their approach to tackling drug supply offenders and we will consider how to guide them on how customs use the power, which they see as very useful; they are enthusiastic about it. There will be occasions on which it will be possible to seek an extension from a magistrate, but returning to the magistrate will have to be justified. It is possible for customs to do that at present. It will be for the police, based on the guidance, to determine how they will manage and use the power as part of their general approach to tackling drug offenders.