Drug-related Offences Mr. Ruffley To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drug-related offences were recorded by police forces in each county of the east of England in each year since 1997. Mr. Coaker Data collected centrally do not identify whether offences (other than drug offences) are drug related. The recorded crime series does include numbers of drug offences which are given as follows. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Force name |1997| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bedfordshire |223 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cambridgeshire |205 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Essex |401 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Hertfordshire |215 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Norfolk |337 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Suffolk |333 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Note:Prior to April 1998, ‘trafficking in controlled drugs’ was the only drug offence included in the recorded crime series.| | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |1998-99|1999-2000|2000-01|2001-02| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bedfordshire |1,141 |1,081 |896 |1,009 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cambridgeshire |1,166 |1,011 |829 |798 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Essex |2,312 |2,421 |2,208 |2,212 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Hertfordshire |1,197 |1,180 |1,438 |1,350 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Norfolk |1,534 |1,561 |1,160 |1,211 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Suffolk |1,581 |1,410 |1,178 |1,292 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Note:The introduction of the revised counting rules in April 1998 expanded offence coverage. This included the addition of ‘possession of controlled drugs’ and ‘other drug offences’. These data are not comparable with earlier years.| | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |2002-03|2003-04|2004-05|2005-06| --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Bedfordshire |1,069 |1,130 |1,131 |1,228 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Cambridgeshire |904 |1,047 |1,174 |1,442 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Essex |2,377 |2,295 |2,328 |2,889 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Hertfordshire |1,553 |1,678 |1,754 |2,044 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Norfolk |1,392 |1,508 |1,602 |1,821 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Suffolk |1,689 |1,923 |1,974 |2,015 | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Note:Numbers of recorded crime were affected by changes in reporting and recording following the introduction of the National Crime Recording Standard in April 2002. These data are not comparable with earlier years.| | | | | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------