Policing Places With Drug Problems: The Multi-Agency Response Team Approach (From Crime and Place, P 199-216, 1995, John E Eck and David Weisburd, eds. -- See NCJ-160730)

• NCJ Number: 160739
• Author(s): L Green
• Date Published: 1995
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Police Executive Research Forum (PERF); Criminal Justice Press/Willow Tree Press
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS. Crime Prevention Studies, Volume 4

Annotation

This study evaluated the impact of the Oakland, California, Police Department's Specialized Multi-Agency Response Team (SMART) Program on drug-related problems and living conditions in targeted areas.

Abstract

The SMART Program is a drug control program that combines traditional drug law enforcement efforts typically targeting individuals with efforts to physically clean up neighborhoods. Most notably, the SMART Program engages nonoffending persons to take responsibility for places with drug and crime problems and uses civil laws and regulations to ensure cooperation. In order to evaluate the SMART Program, data were obtained from Oakland Police Department records on arrests, emergency calls, and field contacts at 321 SMART sites. Results showed that SMART intervention increased the level of citizen reporting of drug problems and decreased drug levels at targeted sites. The physical appearance of SMART sites improved after program intervention. Implications of the program evaluation findings for drug control policies are discussed. 26 references, 12 notes, and 5 tables