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Framework for Measuring the Performance of Drug Law Enforcement

NCJ Number
217902
Author(s)
Peter Homel; Katie Willis
Date Published
February 2007
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This paper presents a model of core performance measurement for drug law enforcement that contains four high-level outcomes and specifies a process for adapting the framework to the needs of a range of drug law enforcement agencies that operate in various settings throughout Australia.
Abstract
The four high-level outcomes for the performance framework are a reduction in drug crime and drug-related crime, a reduction in organized crime, improved public health, and improved public amenity. The first outcome, reducing drug crime and drug-related crime, includes measures of the level of specific drug crimes, for example, the importation, supply, and distribution of illicit drugs, measures of drug market dynamics, and a measure of the crime most reliably linked to illicit drug use (robbery). The second outcome, reducing organized crime, includes measures of trafficking that show the involvement of organized criminal groups. The third outcome, improving public health, involves a range of measures for assessing the impact of illicit drugs on community health. These measures include trends in illicit drug-related deaths and medical problems. The fourth outcome, improving public amenity, includes a small number of measures of community safety and well-being. The development of the framework involved project meetings, workshops, and approximately 100 interviews with personnel in drug law enforcement agencies in every jurisdiction. The framework development also involved an examination of the literature on performance measurement for drug law enforcement. 2 figures, 1 table, and 12 references