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Evaluating a Policing Strategy Intended To Disrupt an Illicit Street-Level Drug Market

NCJ Number
253600
Journal
Evaluation Review Volume: 34 Issue: 6 Dated: 2010 Pages: 513-548
Author(s)
Nicholas Corsaro; Rod K. Brunson; Edmund F. McGarrell
Date Published
2010
Length
36 pages
Annotation

This article reports on a study that examined a strategic policing initiative implemented in a high crime neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee, using a mixed-methodological evaluation approach to provide (a) a descriptive process assessment of program fidelity; (b) an interrupted time-series analysis relying upon generalized linear models; and (c) in-depth resident interviews. 

Abstract

Results indicate that the initiative corresponded with a statistically significant reduction in drug and narcotics incidents as well as perceived changes in neighborhood disorder within the target community. There was less-clear evidence, however, of a significant impact on other outcomes examined. The implications that an intensive crime prevention strategy corresponded with a reduction in specific forms of neighborhood crime illustrates the complex considerations that law enforcement officials face when deciding to implement this type of crime prevention initiative. (publisher abstract modified)