NCJ Number
151388
Date Published
1993
Length
195 pages
Annotation
This report summarizes the results of a process and impact evaluation of the Cook County (Illinois) State's Attorney's Office's (CCSAO) Narcotics Nuisance Abatement Unit (NNAU).
Abstract
The primary objective of the abatement program is "to rid neighborhoods of drug activity and drug-related crime through the abatement of drug houses and drug-paraphernalia dealing." A central feature of the program is its emphasis on citizen and police cooperation in identifying properties in which drug sales are occurring. The evaluation of the program involved a sample of cases drawn from program records; interviews with property owners, residents on targeted blocks, NNAU staff, and organizations that work closely with the NNAU; ethnographic study; displacement analysis; and cost analysis. The evaluation found that although community leaders and the police saw improvement on blocks where the NNAU had targeted properties for abatement, those improvements were not necessarily seen by nearby residents. Less than one in five residents on blocks where the NNAU has targeted properties was aware of the abatement. A small sample of cases in which drug dealers had been evicted through the NNAU's efforts showed no arrests occurring at the sellers' new residences; however, neighbors at some of the new locations reported that the sellers continued to be active. The cost analysis showed that the NNAU is a bargain compared to more traditional methods of neighborhood drug enforcement that involve police surveillance, undercover drug buys, arrests, and prosecution. The NNAU's cost of $625 per case opened is slightly lower than a similar abatement program in Milwaukee. 25 tables and 1 figure