NCJ Number
228009
Date Published
September 2008
Length
8 pages
Annotation
In examining the impact of Sydney's Medically Supervised Injecting Center (MSIC) in Australia, this study analyzed trends in robbery, theft, and drug offenses in Kings Cross over a 6-year period from the start of MSIC in May 2001 until December 2007, comparing these trends to those in the other neighborhoods of Sydney.
Abstract
The analysis found very little difference in Kings Cross and the rest of Sydney regarding trends in robbery and theft offenses, as both types of offenses have declined since 2001, due partly to the heroin shortage in December 2000/January 2001. Regarding drug offenses, the study findings were mixed. Kings Cross experienced an increase in the use/possession of cocaine and the possession/use of amphetamine; however, there were decreases in arrests for dealing/trafficking in narcotics and the use/possession of narcotics. Drug-offense trends were stable in the rest of Sydney. Spatial analysis revealed an increase in the proportion of "move-ons" (loitering) and persons arrested for drug use/possession within 50 meters of the MSIC. The study could not determine whether the trends measured were attributable to the MSIC itself or other factors in the Kings Cross area. In noting other variables that may come into play in the trends analyzed, the study advises that drug offenses and "move-on" incidents may be influenced by changes in police enforcement policies and activity. Similarly, the changes in the number of recorded property crimes may reflect changes in victim willingness to report crime to police. Also, because the MSIC opened about the same time the heroin shortage began, it is difficult to disentangle any effects of the MSIC from major changes in the illicit drug market caused by the heroin shortage. 7 figures, 3 notes, and 6 references