NCJ Number
161514
Date Published
1995
Length
81 pages
Annotation
Delaware's Weed and Seed Program, located in Wilmington, is designed as a multiagency approach to reduce the incidence of violent crime, drug trafficking, and drug-related crime in high crime neighborhoods and to help law-abiding citizens live, work, and raise their families; the program includes suppression, community-oriented policing, prevention, intervention, treatment, and neighborhood restoration.
Abstract
The Weed and Seed strategy uses enhanced law enforcement to discourage drug dealing and other crime and attempts to strengthen the community's social fabric by providing an array of services tailored specifically to community needs. The goal is a long-term reduction in the prevalence of conditions that make neighborhoods susceptible to such problems as open air drug sales and related crime, physical decay, and social disorder. The successful implementation of the Weed and Seed Program requires that efforts of disparate elements of Federal, State, and local criminal justice and social service agencies be coordinated with local schools, community groups, and private industry. An evaluation of the Weed and Seed Program after 3 years found mixed success. For example, drug activity and most categories of reported crime in the Weed and Seed area were up in 1994. Two factors possibly contributed to this increase, significantly reduced law enforcement presence in 1994 due to funding reductions and the return of more drug offenders to the community upon pretrial release or completion of their prison sentences. In addition, two important areas were not sufficiently addressed in Wilmington's Weed and Seed Program, economic development and neighborhood restoration. 6 references, 15 tables, 11 charts, and 25 maps