Costs and Consequences of Crack Abatement: Paper Presented to American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting November 1991, San Francisco, CA

• NCJ Number: 157829
• Author(s): S Pennell; C Curtis; R Melton
• Date Published: 1991
• Length: 12 pages
• Grant Number(s): 88-IJ-C5-0034
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Justice (NIJ); US Dept of Justice NIJ Pub
• Sale Source: San Diego Assoc of Governments (SANDAG)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

This study of drug control strategies in the San Diego, California, Police Department assessed a program funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance that focused on the Crack Abatement Team (CAT) approach.

Abstract

Specific objectives were to provide detailed information on techniques used to identify and arrest drug dealers and users, determine what strategies were most effective with crack dealers, profile factors characterizing street and mid-level drug dealers and users, and identify factors that impede and enhance drug law enforcement strategies. Data were collected on drug law enforcement activities of three San Diego Police Department divisions. Case tracking was accomplished for 1,432 felony and misdemeanor drug arrests, interviews were conducted with 123 offenders arrested for drug charges, and police officers were surveyed. The study period covered June 1 to November 30, 1989. Study findings revealed that plainclothes or undercover police officers in the Narcotics Section of the police department and the CAT team were far more likely to gather information from informants, conduct buys, and serve search warrants. In contrast, Special Enforcement Division (SED) police officers, in uniform and highly visible, were more likely to rely on their own observations and conduct patrol/traffic stops. Nearly 74 percent of felony CAT arrests were for sales, compared to 32 percent of arrests by SED police officers. About 75 percent of those arrested by CAT police officers were black, and 76 percent of CAT cases involved crack seizures; 51 percent of SED arrestees were black and 25 percent of SED cases involved crack seizures. Of all arrests made by the three police department divisions, about 7 in 10 resulted in a complaint filed and about half were convicted. The three divisions accounted for 23 percent of departmentwide felony drug arrests over the 6-month period. Outcomes of particular strategies were consistent with the type of drug activity targeted. 3 references