This WA parliamentary question seeks details on changes to the WA Police's drug seizure recording system introduced in 2002-03. The answer explains how the new system (IMS) improved data accuracy and reporting to the Australian Crime Commission compared to the previous systems (OIS and PTS).

AnsweredQoN 4933Legislative Council
Asked
31 May 2007
Portfolio
Police and Emergency Services

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the Australian Crime Commission Illicit Drug Data Report 2005-06 which stated, ‘Western Australia Police introduced a new incident recording system in 2002-03, which changed the method for recording drug seizures (p. 84)’, and I ask -
(1) Will the Minister provide details of these changes and how they are different from the previous recording system?
(2) If no to (1), why not?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
26 June 2007
Responded by
Minister for Regional Development representing the Minister for Police and Emergency Services
Response time
26 days
The Australian Crime Commission (ACC) required data to be reported according to the appropriate drug offences. PTS was unable to be used as a source as there were no links between the drug item and the corresponding offence/incident on this system. Prior to 2002-03, OIS was not able to link seized drugs to specific offences within an incident, resulting in some over-counts when the same drug seizure was reported against multiple offence categories to the ACC. Additionally, the flexibility offered by OIS for investigative purposes allowed the units of measure for the weight of seized drugs to be entered in a wide variety of formats. This resulted in some under-counts of seized drug weights due to inaccurate or incompatible mappings to standard weight measures. The current Frontline Incident Management System (IMS) has combined the functions of OIS and PTS and is both an investigative tool and a property management system. This has resulted in improved recording of accurate drug weights, as well as allowing improved reporting procedures to avoid double-counting of individual seizures. Consequently the quality of drug seizure information supplied to the ACC since the introduction of Frontline IMS in 2002-03 has improved significantly over the data provided in previous years. (2) Not applicable
Prior to 2002-03, OIS was not able to link seized drugs to specific offences within an incident, resulting in some over-counts when the same drug seizure was reported against multiple offence categories to the ACC. Additionally, the flexibility offered by OIS for investigative purposes allowed the units of measure for the weight of seized drugs to be entered in a wide variety of formats. This resulted in some under-counts of seized drug weights due to inaccurate or incompatible mappings to standard weight measures. The current Frontline Incident Management System (IMS) has combined the functions of OIS and PTS and is both an investigative tool and a property management system. This has resulted in improved recording of accurate drug weights, as well as allowing improved reporting procedures to avoid double-counting of individual seizures. Consequently the quality of drug seizure information supplied to the ACC since the introduction of Frontline IMS in 2002-03 has improved significantly over the data provided in previous years. (2) Not applicable
The current Frontline Incident Management System (IMS) has combined the functions of OIS and PTS and is both an investigative tool and a property management system. This has resulted in improved recording of accurate drug weights, as well as allowing improved reporting procedures to avoid double-counting of individual seizures. Consequently the quality of drug seizure information supplied to the ACC since the introduction of Frontline IMS in 2002-03 has improved significantly over the data provided in previous years. (2) Not applicable
Consequently the quality of drug seizure information supplied to the ACC since the introduction of Frontline IMS in 2002-03 has improved significantly over the data provided in previous years. (2) Not applicable
(2) Not applicable

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