NCJ Number
160958
Date Published
1994
Length
75 pages
Annotation
This report describes the federally funded Weed and Seed program implemented in Wilmington, Del., in July 1992 and evaluates the program after its first 18 months of operation.
Abstract
The Weed and Seed strategy has four elements: suppression; community-oriented policing; prevention, intervention, and treatment; and neighborhood restoration. Wilmington's program had 21 objectives, including providing six walking officers in the target area, referring 200 citizens to appropriate social service programs, arresting at least 200 drug dealers, providing 1,000 adult citizens with drug education, training at least four teams of mediators, and providing an additional 100 kindergarten children with Head Start or after-school day care programs. The evaluation revealed that the program has made significant progress and continues to have an impact on the area's illicit drug markets. The numbers of drug-related calls received from most of the reporting areas encompassing the target neighborhoods continue to fall. A considerable amount of displacement of illicit drug activity may have resulted from the enforcement effort. This displacement has occurred both within the program's boundaries and to nearby neighborhoods. Most of the seeding programs were implemented as planned and continue to serve the target population. These programs are clearly attracting many of the area's youth by offering wholesome alternatives to hanging out in the streets. Figures, tables, and maps