NCJ Number
153564
Date Published
1992
Length
89 pages
Annotation
Community responses to drugs are discussed.
Abstract
This paper discusses the results of a study of community responses to drugs resulting from spontaneous citizen action, specifically excluding those efforts that had substantial citizen participation, but were sponsored and managed principally by police departments, social service agencies, or other government agencies. Methodology included identification of newspaper and magazine articles about neighborhoods and drugs published between January 1986 and June 1990 that described 218 individuals or groups in 25 States and the District of Columbia that had planned or participated in a grassroots antidrug activity. Various criteria then were used to narrow the field of candidate sites. Case study sites chosen were the Ad Hoc Group Against Crime, Kansas City; Allerton Neighborhood Anti-Crime Committee, Bronx; Brotherhood Crusade, Los Angeles; Fairlawn Coalition, Washington; Hill Street Crime Watch Committee, Boston; United Neighbors Against Drugs, Philadelphia; and Whittier Block Watch, Denver. Interviews were conducted at each site. Additional in-depth case studies involved Philadelphia Anti-Drug Coalition; REACH, Detroit; Stella Link Revitalization Coalition, Houston; and Blockos, 210 Stanton, At-Taqua Mosque, and Umma, Manhattan and Brooklyn. Findings of the case studies for each of these sites and preliminary recommendations are included in this report. Suggestions for future research are offered. Footnotes