A shift in societal attitudes towards drug use has led to police focusing less on nabbing people solely for possession.
Wyndham’s top cop Martin Allison said drug use is less of a crime than it was 20 years ago, and today, is more of a medical issue.
“As a society, we’re maturing … and seeing [that] people using drugs are addicted,” he said.
“Those who are unfortunate enough to be addicted are going to consume regardless.We need to focus on treating people who are addicted to drugs,” Inspector Allison said.
Crime statistics released earlier this month show that drug use and possession charges in 2016 were up almost 25 per cent on the previous year.
But Inspector Allison put the rise in cases down to detecting drugs during the course of investigating other crimes.
“People are committing other crimes, like armed robberies or assaults, and [are] found to have drugs in their possession,” he said.
“Very rarely do we see these people charged with drug possession on its own.”
Drug trafficking dropped by 7.5 per cent last year, and manufacturing of drugs dropped by two per cent.
Inspector Allison said the drop in trafficking was also due to resources being focused on more serious offences.
“It’s suffice to say trafficking still continues, but it’s generally a detected crime,” he said.
“We’re channelling our energies into areas of greater harm … crimes where people are involved, like aggravated burglaries, rape, sexual offences.”
Inspector Allison said Wyndham is the safest area to live in the western suburbs, and the overall increase in crime is not bad if looked at in the context of population growth.
