NCJ Number
161667
Date Published
1996
Length
19 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of a national telephone survey of 318 chiefs of police to determine how they view the drug problem and the best way to address it.
Abstract
Fifty-eight percent of the police chiefs interviewed regard drug abuse as a "serious" problem in their communities, ahead of domestic violence, property crimes, and violent crimes. A majority of the respondents believe the problem is greater than it was 5 years ago. Sixty percent of police chiefs believe that police and other law enforcement agencies have been unsuccessful in reducing the drug problem in the United States. This is true for chiefs of police in all regions of the Nation, from small- town departments to large-city forces. The respondents are emphatic, however, that a new approach to the drug problem should not include decriminalization of drugs; 90 percent believe this would be a step in the wrong direction. Most of the police chiefs favor proactive strategies over reactive approaches to the drug problem. They favor reducing the demand for drugs through education and a reduction in the supply of drugs through interdiction, instead of dealing with the problem reactively through punishment and treatment. More than 90 percent of police chiefs report participation by their department in drug education programs in the schools; over 80 percent use street-level "buy- bust" efforts and neighborhood watch and community policing programs; over 70 percent use directed patrol activities and street sweeps. 8 figures, the survey instrument, and survey data