A new study has confirmed something that has long seemed obvious to anyone not in the business of filling prisons: steering drug users toward treatment instead of handcuffs actually reduces the chance they will commit another crime. Researchers examined over 62,000 criminal incidents across 13 English police forces over four years and found that people diverted away from prosecution through decriminalisation-style schemes were a third less likely to reoffend than those prosecuted for simple drug possession.
Professor Alex Stevens, acting director of the University of Sheffield's Centre for Criminological Research and the study's lead author, put it plainly: "The evidence is now strong enough that all police forces can be confident in adopting and expanding diversion schemes for people caught in possession of drugs." The study, funded by the Cabinet Office's evaluation accelerator fund and conducted over four years, involved data on people contacted by police between October 2021 and September 2022.
Some police forces, including Durham, the West Midlands, and Thames Valley, already use formal diversion schemes. But many others still officially cling to a law-and-order approach to illegal drug use, even though simple possession rarely results in prison time. Researchers found that even in forces with established schemes, only a minority of eligible cases were actually diverted because officers simply chose not to. Stevens, who resigned from the government's expert advisory council on drugs in 2019 over "political vetting" of candidates, noted that police forces now have an opportunity to reduce costs and court pressure by expanding diversion - but that requires "clear leadership, proper training, and a shift in culture at street level."
The report also highlighted disparities: people in the most deprived neighbourhoods were most heavily policed and least likely to be diverted, and black people were less likely to be diverted than white people for similar offences. Jason Kew, a former DCI at Thames Valley police who led development of its pre-arrest drug diversion scheme, said forces could go further by developing specialist pathways for women. "Getting this right means fewer women in custody, fewer children lost to the system - and stronger, healthier communities," he said. "The question is no longer whether diversion works. It is how boldly we choose to build on it."
Commander Alison Heydari, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) lead for out-of-court resolutions, said the study highlighted diversion's effectiveness and that there is a "clear commitment to ensuring that eligible individuals are consistently offered appropriate alternatives to prosecution." But critics argue the approach doesn't go far enough. Professor Kojo Koram from Loughborough University's law school noted that black and minority ethnic people are still punished at much higher rates than white people for similar drug use, and that diversion is "quite a tame policy initiative when compared to full decriminalisation and legal regulation policies being passed across Europe and North America." Steve Rolles from Transform Drug Policy Foundation added, "Diversion still feels like the government wanting to have the benefits of decriminalisation without having to say the word."