Police detainees mainly drunk, jobless and on drugs
A WELLINGTONIAN who runs foul of police is typically drunk, unemployed and a regular drug user, a study shows.
The Massey University study of 826 police detainees in 2011, including 171 Wellingtonians, shows alcohol and drugs are increasingly the overriding factor in crime nationwide.
Drunken detainees are becoming more common, accounting for 41 per cent of all detainees, up from 36 per cent a year ago. In Wellington, 43 per cent of police detainees were drunk and had consumed, on average, 20 drinks before being detained.
Wellington detainees who drank were consuming 17 standard drinks a day on average and most had a frequent drug habit. Most were also unemployed (52 per cent) and onethird had a history of mental illness.
Massey researcher Chris Wilkins compiled the report and said the figures showed just how pervasive drug and alcohol abuse was among offenders. While alcohol was the most prevalent drug among detainees, Dr Wilkins said methamphetamine had a far more drastic effect on crime rates.
Most frequent meth users surveyed had dealt drugs and about a third had committed property crimes, he said.
Alcohol and drug use nationwide had increased slightly over the past year, although sharp methamphetamine increases in Auckland were partly related to more aggressive policing.
Detainees
nationwide
usually had difficult home lives and on average had already been arrested at least three times.
The figures also revealed that some detainees were consuming more than 60 drinks in a night and others were being arrested as many as 200 times in a year.
With so many people being recycled through the justice system more preventive measures were needed. ‘‘They arrest them and put them through the cycle. We need to find a way to short circuit that cycle.’’