Building Procedural Justice in Australian Street-Level Drug Law Enforcement

A study into building procedural justice in street-level drug law enforcement in Australia suggests that the decriminalisation of drug use and possession offences, expanding harm reduction approaches, and giving all alleged offenders the chance to tell their side of the story, could help to build positive interactions between officers and people who use drugs, as well as increasing the willingness of users to co-operate with police and abide by the law, as Policing Insight’s Sarah Gibbons reports.

❝Australia scored particularly poorly on the indicator of the extent to which police pick and choose how they enforce the law (20th out of 30 countries). This suggests there is an opportunity and need to improve the procedural justice of Australian street-level drug law enforcement.❞ - Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) report on procedural justice in street-level drug enforcement

❝The dual evidence of ineffectiveness and harms has spurred calls for more effective, just and humane drug law enforcement. In this context it has become increasingly important to examine the role of procedural justice in street-level drug law enforcement.❞ - Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) report on procedural justice in street-level drug enforcement

❝Emphasis is recommended on key issues identified in this study, such as giving all alleged offenders a voice and a chance to tell their side of the story, and implementing laws in a fair and equitable manner regardless of gender, ethnicity, place of residence, mental health status or other factors.❞ - Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) report on procedural justice in street-level drug enforcement

❝Given the concerns among Australian PWUD [people who use drugs] about the equity of drug law enforcement, reshaping the legal environment is recommended to incentivise fair enforcement of Australian drug laws, particularly for Indigenous and other ethnic minority groups.❞ - Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) report on procedural justice in street-level drug enforcement

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#procedural justice #drug law enforcement #harm reduction #fair policing #drug policy reform