NCJ Number
146864
Editor(s)
D L MacKenzie,
C D Uchida
Date Published
1994
Length
316 pages
Annotation
In addressing critical areas of drug control and system improvement, papers examine police drug-law enforcement initiatives as well as judicial, correctional, and treatment alternatives.
Abstract
Following an introductory chapter on the evaluation of the effectiveness of drug-control policies, a chapter discusses what has been learned about evaluation research in criminal justice and how this knowledge can be applied to research that examines drug-control initiatives. Evaluations of some initiatives are just now being completed. This book describes many of these initiatives and assesses current evaluation efforts. Each chapter focuses on a major policy initiative; the problem areas, policies designed to address the problem, research that has examined policy effectiveness, and policy implications of the research are discussed. The authors discuss what we know and also what we need to know. Two chapters on background issues discuss the prevalence of drug use among criminal offenders and gang involvement in crack cocaine trafficking. Five chapters on policy initiatives address street-level drug trafficking, police crackdowns on drug abuse and trafficking, the community effects of tactical narcotics teams, and police response to drug trafficking and use in public housing. Six papers focus on judicial, correctional, and treatment alternatives. Topics covered include the prosecution of drug offenders, treatment classification for drug offenders, the effectiveness of criminal sanctions in deterring drug crimes, and shock incarceration as an alternative for drug offenders. Other subjects considered are the effectiveness of drug testing in community supervision, and treatment for the juvenile drug offender. The concluding chapter reviews what has been learned about drug use and the criminal justice system in the past 25 years. Themes identified are changes in policing strategies, an emphasis on treatment, the need for system-level planning, and the importance of research. Chapter references and tables and subject and author indexes