NCJ Number
142572
Date Published
1990
Length
200 pages
Annotation
Hartford's Cartographic Oriented Management Program for the Abatement of Street Sales (COMPASS), an anti-drug program implemented in four different target areas from 1990 to 1992, has met with qualified success.
Abstract
This report documents the COMPASS program and its conduct and impact. COMPASS objectives include implementing a reclamation and stabilization program in selected target areas; developing computer-based mapping tools to support the reclamation activities; and evaluating the effectiveness of both the reclamation and stabilization program and the mapping tools. Program impact is summarized for each of the four different target areas: COMPASS had a significant impact in Charter Oak Terrace in terms of reducing drug activity and improving the quality of life; a minority of residents in Milner felt fewer people were selling drugs and that there was less violent crime; reclamation had a moderate impact in Frog Hollow; crime statistics for Asylum Hill suggest that reclamation had a moderate impact on levels of crime, but surveys of neighborhood residents indicate a significant impact. The COMPASS experience suggests that the neighborhood- oriented anti-drug approach may prove effective if a viable neighborhood exists. 15 references, 54 exhibits, and 2 appendixes