City of Wilmington Weed and Seed Program Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 150760
• Author(s): R J Harris; J O'Connell
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 75 pages
• Grant Number(s): 92-MUCX0014
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Corporate Author: Delaware Statistical Analysis Ctr
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This report presents the results of an 18-month evaluation of Wilmington's Weed and Seed Program (Delaware), which is a comprehensive, multiagency approach to combating violent crime, substance abuse, and gang activity in high- crime neighborhoods.

Abstract

The Weed and Seed strategy involves the suppressive "weeding out" of the most violent offenders in targeted high-crime neighborhoods; community-oriented policing; prevention, intervention, and treatment; and neighborhood restoration. The evaluation found that Wilmington's Weed and Seed program has made significant progress since it was implemented in July 1992. The program continues to have an impact on the area's illicit drug markets. The pre-post analysis shows that the number of drug-related calls received from most of the reporting areas that encompass the Weed and Seed target neighborhoods continue to fall. Apparently a considerable amount of displacement of illicit drug activity may have occurred as a result of the Weed and Seed narcotics enforcement effort. This displacement has occurred both within the boundaries of the Weed and Seed area and outside to nearby neighborhoods. Some areas within the boundaries of the target area that experienced reductions in illicit drug activity when the Weed and Seed program first began saw a resurgence in drug activity in 1993, especially in the area surrounding the intersection of two particular streets. In addition, most categories of violent-crime related calls for service received from the Weed and Seed area are down compared with 1992 figures. One exception is the number of reported burglaries, which increased in 1993. This report also provides an overview of the "Seeding" programs that were established with Weed and Seed funds. Most of these programs were implemented as planned, and with few exceptions, continue to provide services to the target population. Although the impact of these programs is not easily quantified, these programs are attracting many of the area's youths by offering a number of wholesome alternatives to "hanging out" on the streets, thereby reducing their exposure to some of the neighborhood's more unsavory elements. 7-item bibliography