A Collaborative Approach to Eliminating Street Drug Markets: A Process and Outcome Evaluation

This grant award proposes to conduct a process and outcome analysis of a police and community-driven strategy to address illicit drug dealing in street-level, open-air markets, developed as a part of Project Safe Neighborhoods in the Middle District of North Carolina. The research will examine the strategy as implemented over the past year in three existing markets (one in Winston-Salem and two in High Point) as well as studying its planned implementation in a fourth market (in Greensboro) matched with a control. Preliminary work has suggested that the strategy can be effective at disrupting markets. However, this current research will enable these findings to be more soundly corroborated and will permit more in-depth study of the dynamics of markets and their disruption, including the role of police and community and their interactions and diversion of offenders into socially acceptable lifestyles. Diffusion and displacement effects will also be examined. The strategy involves the use offender notification meetings for drug dealers who have been investigated and had warrants prepared against them, offering positive services and opportunities as ann alternative to continued dealing leading to the issuing of the warrants, arrest and prsecution. The families of the drug dealers are also involved. Data collection methods include observation of notification meetins and other police activities, crime data analysis, and interviews with notified offenders, their family members, community leaders and residents, drug users (buyers), and law enforcement and other strategy participants. The findings of this research will have important nation-wide implications for police-community partnerships and problem-solving to reduce drug dealing and improve community safety and quality of life. CA/NCF