NCJ Number
146670
Editor(s)
R C Davis,
A J Lurigio,
D P Rosenbaum
Date Published
1993
Length
327 pages
Annotation
This book contains papers on the effects of drugs on communities, community response to drugs, police facilitation of community antidrug programs, and the evaluation of community antidrug efforts.
Abstract
Papers in the first section of the book consider how the crack epidemic has affected communities. One paper discusses how perceptions of drug activity impact community life in eight low-income neighborhoods. Another paper considers how the proliferation of cocaine has transformed the structure and activity of street gangs. The third paper examines whether civil liberties are endangered when residents believe community safety is threatened. Papers in the second section of the book focus on what communities are doing about drug sales and use. A typology of community antidrug programs is followed by Manhattan and Brooklyn case studies of community responses to drugs. The concluding paper of this section argues that community antidrug programs can at least displace drug activity and that police support is crucial in community antidrug efforts. Following this theme, the third section of the book presents papers that address the police role in supporting community antidrug efforts. One paper describes police efforts in a Philadelphia neighborhood to enable community residents to reduce drug activity and rebuild the neighborhood. Two other papers provide examples of police community cooperation in drug law enforcement in public housing and the effects of drug abuse and sale on three urban communities. The fourth section of the book presents two efforts to evaluate community antidrug programs. Because these are ongoing evaluations, these papers give the reader an early glimpse of two major antidrug initiatives, both of which are attentive to the development of multiagency partnerships. The concluding chapter argues that reduction in the use of illicit drugs can only be achieved through strengthened community relationships for both citizens and institutions. Chapter references and tables