NSW Police and Crime Stoppers have launched a new advertising campaign aimed at mobilising the community in the fight against ice as new figures show a rise in arrests for amphetamine consumption across the state.
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Over the 24 months to March 2015, the number of arrests for amphetamine possession and use increased by 40.1 per cent, according to the NSW Bureau of Statistics.
Significant increases were also recorded in cocaine possession use - up 45.3 per cent, narcotics possession and use up 17.7 per cent and cannabis possession use increased by 14.5 per cent.
There are large increases in the recorded rates of amphetamine-related offences in regional NSW as well as in parts of Sydney.
NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione said the campaign aimed to remind residents about the far-reaching effects that one call to Crime Stoppers can yield.
“Please do not underestimate the immensely positive impact one anonymous call to Crime Stoppers can make,” Mr Scipione said.
In September 2012, a single, anonymous call to Crime Stoppers led to the seizure of 585 kilograms of ice. ‘‘Make no mistake about it, this call stopped millions of deals from making it to the street, preventing untold harm, and, no doubt, saving countless lives,’’ Mr Scipione said.
“Since the beginning of 2013, we have shut down and dismantled more than 250 clan labs and seized more than one and a half tonnes of methylamphetamine.
‘‘Anonymous calls from members of the public played a critical role in helping us close many of those labs and seize many of those drugs.’’
The new campaign was all about encouraging more people to make the call, the commissioner said.
‘‘As the advertisements make patently clear, if you see something you’re concerned about, please let us know. Your information could help us smash apart an ice supply syndicate and directly prevent many thousands of lives from being destroyed by drugs.”
Police Minister Troy Grant welcomed the campaign, and encouraged communities around the state to band together and get behind the drug reporting initiative.
“Ice is an addictive, destructive and immeasurably dangerous drug that is devastating individuals, families and communities right across this state,” Mr Grant said.
“As officers in the police force regularly remind us, the production, sale and use of ice spans the entirety of NSW, infecting towns, suburbs and cities in the north, south, east and west.
“Your anonymous call could rid a rural community of its local ice dealer, it could bring down a major drug supply syndicate or it could save a young child from the abuse and neglect that life in a drug-house often entails.”
Crime Stopper NSW CEO Peter Price reassured would-be callers that their information would be treated in the strictest confidence.
“We don’t need to know your name, we don’t need to know where you are calling from; all we need is the information you have to hand. We can pass this information on to investigators and they can use it in their efforts to combat drug crime. It may just be the missing link they need to crack open a complex case.
The campaign’s success will be measured by the level of drug-related intelligence reports that are generated by Crime Stoppers during the campaign period.
