Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Trial) Act 2003 - NSW ...

We asked a senior officer whether the results of drug detection operations justified the cost and resources utilised
given that police were mainly detecting people with mostly small amounts of cannabis and issuing cannabis
cautions. The officer’s response was:
Dare I say from a manager’s point of view … that [drug detection operations] are not cost effective [and] they’re
labour intensive. 400
Another officer suggested that police:
… would be far better off putting our money and specifically focussing on problem [truck] companies and
offenders we know of in the criminal breach. 401
The above officer also noted that such a strategy would be less intrusive for the general public:
Putting aside the labour intensive stuff, any method that just blankets whole areas and just tests everyone is
actually quite intrusive … you got mum and dad and the kids, you’ve got honest truckies who make up 90 per
cent of the trucking population. They’re all getting tested, they’re all getting jack of it, they just want to move on
and get on with their job. 402
5.6.1. Financial costs
Table 4 outlines the NSW Police Force expenditure on the 23 drug detection operations conducted during the
review period. The table does not include the cost associated with the handlers such as wages, travel and shift
allowances, and vehicle expenses. Nor does it include the costs associated with maintaining the dogs (food,
veterinary care, training aids etc).
The total cost of conducting the 23 drug detection operations over 52 days involving 624 police officers and 48 drug
detection dogs was in excess of $300,000. The NSW Police Force made the following observations in relation to the
cost effectiveness of drug detection operations:
Considering the amount of indictable quantities of prohibited drugs/plants seized during operations run to date,
it is suggested that [drug detection trial] operations are not cost effective. In terms of a cost-benefit analysis the
return for the NSWPF on their investment in these types of operations is not high. 404
The NSW Police Force also noted that the number of indictable quantities of prohibited drugs seized ‘were not in
sufficient quantities to justify the amount of resources required in the planning and execution phases’. 405
The NSW Police Force also advised: 406
In regards to Operation Cobwell, conducted in Northern Region, 96 police and 2 shifts were utilised over 2
nights. The approximate cost for wages alone for this operation was $32,800. This figure does not include meal
and fuel expenses. Given the relatively small number and quantity of drug detections the operation was not
cost effective.
In regards to an operation in Barrier LAC in Western Region, the attendance of the Dog Unit necessitated two
days of travel to Broken Hill followed by two days of travel to return to Sydney. In remote areas travel costs, in
particular, tend to make one-off operations cost prohibitive.
The cost effectiveness of applying for and running specific drug detection operations can, in part, be
enhanced when operations are run over the course of several days. However, as noted above the cost
effectiveness of [drug detection trial] operations is generally considered quite low when factors such as
general staffing costs and low drug seizure rates are taken into account.
It is difficult to disagree with the NSW Police Force assessment of the cost and resource effectiveness of the drug
detection operations conducted.
5.6.2. Impact of drug detection operations on local policing
In addition to the financial costs incurred during drug detection operations, there is also the opportunity cost, which
is the benefit lost from not utilising resources for other purposes such as local policing. It is not easy to quantify the
opportunity cost associated with drug detection operations.
One senior officer we interviewed suggested that drug detection operations had an impact on local policing:
Whilst they’re out there at that operation then they can’t be deployed into other areas where their core duties lie. 407
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Detection Trial) Act 2003
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