DIP is a key part of the Government’s strategy for tackling drugs and reducing crime. Introduced in 2003 as a programme to develop and integrate measures for directing adult drug-misusing offenders out of crime and into treatment, it attracts significant public funding with the aim of gradually ensuring that the constituent interventions and processes become the established way of working with drug misusing offenders across England and Wales.
DIP, believed to be a world-first, involves criminal justice and treatment agencies working together with other services to provide a tailored solution for adults - particularly those who misuse Class A drugs - who commit crime to fund their drug misuse.
Delivery at a local level is through Drug Action Teams (DATs), using Criminal Justice Integrated teams (CJITs) who adopt a case management approach to provide, or broker access to, treatment and support which is appropriate to each individual client’s needs.
This begins at an individual’s first point of contact with the criminal justice system through custody, court, sentence and beyond into resettlement. Key partners involved in delivering DIP are police, prisons, probation officers and the courts, and treatment service providers and those who provide linked services such as housing and job-seeker support.
Elements of the Programme are in operation in all areas of England and Wales. Since its first year, 2003-04, the Programme has had a particular focus on and rolled out additional components only to certain DAT areas in England and Community Safety Partnership areas in Wales.
These are mainly areas with high levels of acquisitive crime, normally property crime such as burglary, shoplifting, robbery and so on. These areas, where the whole range of DIP elements are operating fully, are known as “intensive” areas and comprise 68 DAT areas in England and 3 high crime areas in Wales (or 98 police BCUs in total).
Publications
DIP Operational Process FAQs
Reseach on DIP Impact - examines how DIP engages and directs Class A drug misusers from the point of arrest or charge to the point of treatment and examines their offending levels before and after identification by DIP.
Publication of drug related research reports - providing information for drug treatment professionals and police officers wanting to gain a better understanding of drug use in their areas
