“Another tool in the toolbox”: An investigation of a drug diversion programme in a Danish police precinct

TY - CHAP

T1 - “Another tool in the toolbox”

T2 - An investigation of a drug diversion programme in a Danish police precinct

AU - Kammersgaard, Tobias

AU - Houborg, Esben

AU - Søgaard, Thomas Friis

AU - Schrøder, Sidsel

PY - 2023/1

Y1 - 2023/1

N2 - In this chapter, Tobias Kammersgaard, Esben Houborg, Thomas Søgaard, and Sidsel Schrøder provide an account of the frst police-led diversion scheme in Denmark for young people caught in possession of illicit drugs. Based on survey, interview, and focus group data, the authors reveal that referral to treatment and social services was viewed by police ofcers as ‘another tool in the toolbox’ instead of an alternative to criminal sanctions. As a result, it is suggested that the diversion scheme is indicative of a new dual approach to policing youth drug use, which involves the use of traditional punitive deterrence in combination with demand or harm reduction measures. The authors also engage with the concept of ‘treatmentality’ (Jöhncke 2009) to explain why even progressive forms of drugs policing might still maintain a range of problematic assumptions about drug use and the appropriateness of treatment interventions.

AB - In this chapter, Tobias Kammersgaard, Esben Houborg, Thomas Søgaard, and Sidsel Schrøder provide an account of the frst police-led diversion scheme in Denmark for young people caught in possession of illicit drugs. Based on survey, interview, and focus group data, the authors reveal that referral to treatment and social services was viewed by police ofcers as ‘another tool in the toolbox’ instead of an alternative to criminal sanctions. As a result, it is suggested that the diversion scheme is indicative of a new dual approach to policing youth drug use, which involves the use of traditional punitive deterrence in combination with demand or harm reduction measures. The authors also engage with the concept of ‘treatmentality’ (Jöhncke 2009) to explain why even progressive forms of drugs policing might still maintain a range of problematic assumptions about drug use and the appropriateness of treatment interventions.

M3 - Book chapter

SN - 9780367722692

SN - 9780367722708

SP - 197

EP - 214

BT - Drug Law Enforcement, Policing and Harm Reduction: Ending the Stalemate

A2 - Bacon, Matthew

A2 - Spicer, Jack

PB - Routledge

CY - London

ER -