Blame middle class for drug-related violence, says police leader

Middle-class drug users bear blame for the drug trade and associated violence on Britain’s streets, a leader of rank-and-file police has said.

Simon Kempton, who leads on drugs policy for the Police Federation, also said banning illegal drugs did not work and new thinking was needed.

He told the federation’s conference in Birmingham: “‘The only reason gangs are into drugs is because people want to buy them, and a big part of that is not street-level users. Street-level users are a problem because they steal to fund their habit but on their own they will not support an organised crime group.

“The big market is people with money to spend and they are often oblivious to the misery they cause because it is not on their doorstep. Middle-class drug users do not come across the radar of police because they are consuming it behind closed doors.”

Sheldon Thomas, a former gang member who now works to divert youngsters away from crime, said: “The police target street gangs but the problem is organised criminal networks and the middle-class white people who buy the drugs. The question is: who is buying the drugs at that level? Who is buying them and are we tackling them as well?

“We need to tackle street gangs and gang crime but for me the big incubator is middle-class people who buy these drugs. We need to tackle middle-class white people who are buying cocaine in very large amounts.”

Kempton said the longstanding policy of drug prohibition did not work: “Police do what the government tells them to do. We will enforce prohibition as long as they want. It has not worked.”

Ministers are wedded to a ban on illegal drugs, and Kempton said a royal commission was needed. At least one chief constable, Mike Barton of Durham, has also said prohibition is failing.

On Wednesday the home secretary, Sajid Javid, will attempt to reset the relationship between the government and police, which has been strained since Theresa May’s time as home secretary.

At a time of rising crime rates, Javid is contemplating abandoning the government’s claim that more could be done with less.