WA Police say anyone who believes they have been drink spiked can attend their nearest 24/7 police station in the metropolitan area or their nearest police station in regional WA where drug testing kits will be available.
Drink spiking is the practice of administering extra alcohol or prohibited substances into someone’s drink without their permission or knowledge.
Once someone who believes they have had their drink spiked attends either a 24/7 metropolitan police station such as Joondalup or Ellenbrook (or regional stations such as Lancelin and Gingin) they will be helped through a process, which includes using a drink-spiking sample collection kit.
The process involves a sample of their urine being taken with the sample then being analysed to identify if there is anything they have unknowingly been administered.
Police said the kits can identify more than 600 drugs and drug metabolites (metabolites form when a drug breaks down in the body) but will not be used to take action against anyone who may have taken other illicit drugs.
Prompt testing is a must as some drugs are only detectable in a person’s system for 12 hours from ingestion.
If the test shows a positive result, the person tested can then decide if they wish to proceed with a criminal offence report to police or seek support and/or counselling from other agencies.
The drink spiking protocol will ensure standardised reporting and procedures in relation to potential drink spiking incidents.
The sex assault squad will investigate all reported incidents of drink spiking and will also investigate any associated sexual offences linked to drink spiking incidents.
WA Police said some recent high-profile investigations by the sex assault squad included the arrest of two men who between them had allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted 23 women.
The new drink spiking testing protocols will make sure WA Police can provide a quicker response for people who think they have had their drink spiked, says detective Sergeant Kylie Johnson. Picture: WA PoliceSex assault squad detective Sergeant Kylie Johnson said the new drink spiking testing protocols would make sure WA Police could provide a quicker response for people who thought they had been drink spiked, helping identify if that was the case and getting them the appropriate support that they needed.
But it would help alleviate some of the pressure on local hospitals as well.
Sergeant Johnson said WA Police were always looking for ways to improve their processes so that they could better investigate this type of offence and also assist community members.
“I’m really proud of the work that we have done behind this project in trying to implement these protocols and I think it will make a very big difference out there for members of the community and especially around this type of offence,’’ she said.
The initiative was developed in consultation with the Sexual Assault Resource Centre (SARC), ChemCentre WA (CCWA) and the Royal Perth Hospital Emergency Department.
Centre for Women’s Safety and Wellbeing sexual violence project officer Micaela Rafel said sexual violence had significant and lifelong impacts on victim-survivors.
She said that was why it was essential to work to do everything that they could to improve outcomes for victim-survivors and improve prevention and response.
“It is important for victim-survivors to know that they will be believed and heard and supported and that police are not there to focus on whether they have consumed alcohol or other drugs but the focus will be on the actions of the perpetrator,’’ she said.
According to alcoholthinkagain four out of five victims of drinking spiking are female, about half of drink spiking victims are aged under 24 and between 20 and 30 per cent of incidents reported to police involve sexual assault.
Acting Commander Gordon Fairman said WA Police took all reports of drink spiking seriously and had ongoing investigations to determine the causes of reported incidents and identify any perpetrators.
“Being spiked is never the fault of the victim and we are keen to ensure the perpetrators are brought to justice,’’ he said.
“The positive impact of more members of the public coming forward when they suspect they have been spiked will enable us to investigate these incidents more comprehensively, and it is hoped the new kits will allow us to tackle evidence threshold issues more effectively than ever before.’’
