Cooperation with School Board Concerning Simple Drug Possession (Synopsis)

Repentigny Police Service

Description: Dealing with simple drug possession cases in schools can be a drain on police resources. Since 2002, the Repentigny Police Service has saved resources by having high schools in Repentigny deal firsthand with simple drug possession. Teachers or security monitors seize the drugs themselves, before police officers get involved. They can also keep the young offender until a police officer arrives. After seizure, the drugs are stored in a safe to preserve the chain of evidence and the school personnel involved write a report. At this point, school management contacts a police officer assigned to the school. The officer comes to the school, seizes the drugs and collects the report. A police report is prepared, with the school report attached as an annex.
Objective: This initiative seeks to reduce the time spent by police officers on drug possession cases in schools, including the time spent on travel time, processing and report writing.
Outcomes: Prior to this initiative, drug possession cases in schools required two officers to attend the scene, seize the drugs, arrest the students and write a lengthy report. Under the new model, only one officer visits the school. This results in better use of police resources. An evaluation of this initiative has not been conducted.
Resources: One full-time officer was assigned to this initiative from within the service.
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Province: Quebec
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Record Entry Date: 2013-08-01
Date modified: