NCJ Number
172547
Date Published
1996
Length
25 pages
Annotation
This analysis of local drug law enforcement and the role of community policing and problem-oriented policing concludes that future drug law enforcement will shift from a narrow focus on drug arrests, seizures, and prosecutions to a collaboration with patrol officers and the community to address both drug problems and neighborhood revitalization.
Abstract
Narcotics divisions traditionally respond to neighborhood drug problems by conducting buy-bust operations and making immediate arrests. They give little or no attention to why the location has a notorious drug problem or to long-term problem-solving. However, community-policing and problem-oriented policing represent a shift in policing strategies. Several programs across the country use problem-oriented policing to address drug-related crimes and neighborhood revitalization. In addition, the police department of Sacramento, Calif. exemplifies the transition from traditional strategies to community policing. Overall, a community policing philosophy and a problem-oriented policing strategy offer viable responses by a traditional narcotics division to a neighborhood revitalization effort. Reference notes