The Negative Repercussions of the Drug Trade on Local Communities - Research Paper Example

Introduction The community loss inflicted by open-air drug markets has polluted the inner city and urban regions globally. Drug markets that function in public places are hazardous to the health of social fabric of society and the neighbourhoods for the “direct nexus between drug dealing and violence” (Hunt et al., 2008, p. 396). The connection between drugs markets, drug trafficking and violent crime is well entrenched. It is equally hurtful to the community as well as to the market players themselves, affecting them through drug use and littering among a host of other evils to the common man and the society. It is the social disturbance that rules the roost in the vicinity of the illegal drug market, as it impacts residents’ peace of mind and quality of life later on. Discussion -- Strategies for Addressing Open-air Drug Markets Out of various strategies for controlling drug sale on the streets, action by the police should be well planned. Harocopos and Hough (2005) have devised multi-layered steps for effective police action. Drug policing approach should be transparent for stakeholders to view clearly. Law enforcement should be robust in intensity, based on the inputs of intelligence information and proper inquiry resulting in confiscation of drugs, arrest of drug buyers and by issuing alerts to possible future buyers. Community members can contribute by starting anti-drug propaganda or by creating information collecting local hotline. A number of local level solutions can be tried against drug markets by ensuring participation of local representatives of the community such as property owners, local businessmen, and housing organisations, by employing nuisance control laws, issuing orders to drug offenders to control drug use, informing mortgagers of drug usage issues at their facilities, enforcing related drug control laws and capturing and forfeiting properties connected with drug trade (Harocopos and Hough, 2005). Another strategy is to improve the surrounding environment by recovering public places, fixing and checking surveillance cameras, changing reachable paths and limiting parking, shifting public phone booths and inspecting vacant constructions. In the end rather than controlling supply of the drugs, focus should be on limiting and cutting down the demand side of the drug business by employing demand reduction strategies, such as offering drug treatment as the first preference and searching for precautionary remedies of the drug problems (Harocopos and Hough, 2005). Singularly, strategies cannot be effective until implemented collectively. Harocopos and Hough (2005, p. 2) stated: “Simply arresting market participants will have little impact in reducing the size of the market or the amount of drugs consumed”. Routine temporary controls are not effective in the long-run as the market reacts by changing their mode of functioning. It is seen that markets gain the capacity to change their functioning as a reaction against legal control (Abele, 2004). It requires collective attempts of all stakeholders including alert citizens, regulation and surrounding factors, which is pronounced by some as an “eclectic approach” (Hough and Edmunds, 1999), which promises better outcomes. An off late analysis of drug law implementation approximation was conducted by Mazerolle et al. (2007). They employed five divisions to divide 132 distinct intervention approximations. As the analysis included all drug interventions – not just street-level drug interventions – the line of interventions ranged from global to national interventions to individual level intervention of abiding by the law. Not satisfied by just making an observation, Mazerolle et al. (2006) organised a meta-analysis of street-level drug law enforcement, by including 14 other intervention approaches, including policing of all community, problem-focused/collaborative approaches, hotspots policing and general law enforcement efforts. Basic to offering context to the present research, the Mazerolle et al. (2006) reasoned that multi-agency collaboration along with active community and policing partnerships stand more possibilities of success in controlling drug issue than legal approaches of only through street level policing of hotspot areas. Table1. ________________________________________________________________ Stages Operational steps ________________________________________________________________ Identification Identifying the target area through crime mapping Engaging the community Engaging the police department internally Identification of street drug offenders Reviewing street drug incidents to refine the list Conducting the undercover operation Notification Establishing contact with the offender’s family Conducting the notification Resource delivery and Setting a deadline And community support Strict enforcement Follow-up ________________________________________________________________ The 11 collaborative processes stated above in Table 1form the blueprint for preparing a police and community-led drug removal strategy. Significantly, the 11 steps stated by Frabutt et al. (2006) are mentioned from the actual experiences of law enforcing agencies that have taken action through these outlined steps. One can see the reasoning behind the start of each initiative and its continuity. The whole system of the operation is very complicated, multi-pronged and cannot be completed without outside input and collective effort of all stakeholders. First, it is complicated as the strategy cannot be implemented unilaterally; the whole department, from the senior staff to the ground officers, must create an understanding of the principles of collective action. Going ahead from inter-departmental understanding, the strategy just starts stagnating due to lack of growing and creative community awareness and involvement. Second, it is multi-pronged, as the strategy employs many degrees of deterrence by taking inference from traditional resources such as fear of arrest and legal action and more non-traditional deterrence handlers like family, friends and close companions. Together with the deterrence message is an offer of proactive transformation, supported by social service backing and means Frabutt et al., 2006). Third, it is clear that outside partners –District Attorney’s office, probation and parole and offenders’ families – are all critical to the process. Obviously, the strategy is answerable to invitation for multi-aspect attempts to remove street drug markets by leveraging through association with legal agencies, the goodwill of community, active neighbourhood, housing department and offenders’ own social leads (Frabutt et al., 2006). Feedback from stakeholders has helped the enforcement action to get a stronghold on powers visible from the strategy. Review of the strategy has highlighted the role of justice and equality in the built strategy because it is based on crime mapping information. Zeroing the aimed community based on empirical parameters and detailing the selection method objectively and transparently to citizens structures the approach highly secure to the wider interests of the people (Frabutt et al., 2006). Second, stakeholders briefed that such a strategy facilitates the police department to go to the community “where they are”. In other words the legal fraternity have gotten rid of the understanding that citizens care the least about drug-inflicted communities and have rather searched a method of interacting with the community members as part of the solution (Frabutt et al., 2006). Third, stakeholders seemed satisfied with the new concept of wider associations that mixed through the strategy. Legal agencies entered into new associations with partners – the NAACP, Urban League, and the housing organisation to open a united front for the shared goal of ameliorating illegal street drug markets (Frabutt et al., 2006). Analysis of a Civil Remedy Programme Mazerolle et al. (2000) have conducted research to measure the effect of a civil remedy programme (Beat Health) on drug and disorder issues under experimental field testing situations. Taking the help from calls for service data, empirically critical insight and variation has been found between the control and experimental groups, when drug related calls were made before the beginning of the intervention to compare with calls made during a 12-month ensuing period. The Beat Health locations, particularly the housing locations, showed improvement in comparison to the control locations. On the contrary, the control response heightened greatly the drug problems, specifically at the commercial sites included in the research design. The spatial effects of the Beat Health and patrol reactions in catchment regions around the 100 study locations were also measured. The outcomes indicate some improvement in the experimental housing locations. Nevertheless, a possible change of drug problems was noticed in the vicinity of the commercial experimental and control locations. This reveals that the shifting effect is most perceived in the commercial control locations, as shown in figure 1below. Figure1. Mean Number of Calls per Month (drugs) Importance of Policing Importance of policing is very critical feature of controlling street level local drug market. May et al. (2005) have expressed their views about two policed markets with varied intensity, namely Sidwell Rise and Etherington, as based on the their hindsight. Both these drug markets had intentional and unintentional outcomes regarding enforcement by law. Enforcement strategies worked brilliantly in those markets where host communities were connected minimum with the drug markets. Enforcement strategies could be implemented without any major hurdle, in these markets, proceeding smoothly. The increased connection between the host communities and the drug markets of Sidwell Rise and Etherington, nevertheless, created more problems in the implementation of enforcement strategies. The problem was faced amidst the ready supply of drug workers, arrests, conviction and imprisonment of leading drug peddlers, as it created just ‘promotion opportunities’ for the junior police staff or presented other kinds of replacements (May et al., 2005). Mosher (2001) has predicted drug arrest rates from the perspective of conflict and social disorganisation. Employing 1989 data on illegal drug keeping and trafficking and the data from the 1990 census, model based drug arrest rates have been examined in different cities of the U.S. Among various findings of his research, it has also been found that relative to conflict theory, policing power use results in critically positive impact on trafficking imprisonment rates. Mosher (2001) has quoted Drug king Lee Brown telling that it is important to find out where and how arrests happen. In bigger cities, the policing are more acute in shaded and drug-prone areas as drugs are used in plenty there. Generally, low income residents are more prone to drug use. Arresting the people selling drugs on the streets is easier than arresting drug sellers in suburbs or in corporate compounds. This tendency leads to higher arrest rate of blacks than of Whites because of comparative ease of arresting the Black sellers on the street corners (Mosher, 2001). Dray et al. (2008) evaluate how street-level drug markets customise to a macro-level supply blocking of heroin under three experimental situations of street-level drug law enforcement: random patrol, hot-spot policing and problem-focused policing. Using an agent-based model, the comparative effect of generalising the three legal strategies after simulating an ‘external shock’ to the available supply of heroin to the street-level drug market has been attempted .Employing 3 years of data, starting from late 2000 and early 2001 in Melbourne, Australia, rate of crime and loss has been approximated under the three policing situations. Outcomes reveal that macro-level hurdles to drug supply have reducing effect on street-level marketing if a ready substitute of the drug is available. On the other hand, the street-level police interventions differ in effecting drug market dynamics. It is significant to note that problem-focused policing is the ideal strategy to block drug supply in the markets, minimise crimes and loss, irrespective of the category of drug being injected in the market. There is an opinion that legal action rather than controlling drug sale, exacerbates the problem through shifting of drug trafficking by pushing the street cost on the up side and compelling addicts to commit serious crimes to finance their habits. However, it should not discourage legal action to block the illegal sale of drugs and punish the offenders besides offering all possible aid to demand cutting efforts (White, 2002). Drug Trafficking in Central America In Central America, drug trafficking is being controlled through the military action, getting the US support against “non-traditional threats” from street gangs. Additionally, the military use has become common after delay in patrolling since 1993. It was a time of police inaction against the background of increasing crime. In Salvador, military has played a leading part in policing gangs, a burning issue demanding police action. At government level, the US can provide help to the countries of Central America for investing in increased police resources and for initiating judicial reforms. Society at large also needs to understand in Salvador and other Central American countries that until regular structural measures are not taken, which include more inclusive socio-economic policies, results cannot be obtained on various fronts including drug trafficking (Sonja, 2012). Policing of Cannabis as Class C Drug in England and Wales May et al. (2007) have discussed the findings of a research report on the effects of policing cannabis as a Class C drug. Their research relates the policing of cannabis with the latest changes to empower arrest of offenders, which needs to be justified to be made on the allowed parameters only. General feeling of the masses in England and Wales against cannabis use has softened, as cannabis consumption has spread widely in England and Wales. It is very surprising that drug use is more common in late teenagers and young adults. As per the latest Offending, Crime and Justice Survey organised by the Home Office, young people in the age bracket of 10 to 25, were at greater risk of drug use than others. Their reporting percentage of using drugs was also the highest. There is a general propaganda by the media that drug use has been on the increase in young people but actually, cannabis use in the past 10 years has been constant. Past research by May et al. (2002) analyses local and national level stats along with two case studies in two policed regions. The findings of their analysis indicate: About half of the offences of simple possession were committed by first-time offenders. Possession offences came to the notice of policemen by chance while inquiring for other reasons was made. Normally, arrests did not lead to major discovery of serious crimes. There were huge differences in warning rates by the policemen. Very few patrolling officers could become experts in cannabis offences. Officers often take such crimes very lightly or issue lax warnings only. A good chunk of policing time got wasted in arrests, as two officers’ had to be shifted for at least half the time of their shift to handle arrests. The policing of cannabis incurred huge financials, at the minimum £50 million a year and manpower of 500 full-time police officers. Need of legislation for updating was felt by a good number of police officers. Almost each third policeman believed cannabis should not be seen as a crime; only 9% preferred revision in various offending types. The importance of street warnings There was a possibility that cannabis category could be changed to Class B by the then new Home Secretary, Charles Clarke. Such a decision could have initiated the final farewell to the practice of street warnings for carrying cannabis; any such lead at political level without taking some ‘toughening up’ measures would have created complications. Street warning to those keeping drugs was retained by Clarke. Actually, street warnings delivered the purpose to some degree for the offence of keeping drugs. The next Home Secretaries should also let the practice follow as an alternative to arresting such offenders. The new arrangements are relatively better in saving significant policing time although to a lesser degree only (May et al., 2007). The guidance should be adhered to the prevailing local situations, as some sites have a sound reasoning to withdraw back from the selected path where open cannabis markets exist. Some local priorities could be more demanding than local situations although it is against the spirit of consistency in justice – but while formulating a criminal policy, local scenarios should be given due attention. In no way the cannabis policing should be disfigured by government aim for ‘narrowing the justice gap’ (May et al., 2007). Case of Pusher Street in Copenhagen Policing definitely reduces the routine sales volumes of drugs and leads to change of drug dealers. Police crackdown on Christiania in Copenhagen reduced the volume of drug dealing to 10-20% of the total business used to be done before the police crackdown. It has helped in controlling the scenario for the policemen patrolling on the streets of Christiania without wearing riot gear. As per the police report, drug business has increased the cost of drugs by 25% but at the same time, marketers have devised new ways of supplying drugs to the customers by availing the services of taxi drivers and minors near the school areas (Moeller, 2009). Although the profit margins to the drug dealers have reduced with the police action but participants’ number has increased, highlighting their increased presence in Copenhagen. More immigrants belonging to second young generation are getting involved as new actors in the drug supply business (Moeller, 2009). Pusher Street had prompted police and politicians’ to act firmly against drug trafficking in the past but this has not reduced the environment of uncertainty. Outcomes of young cannabis buyers roaming about to locate new drug dealers are not sure. A chain of reactions following the crackdown on Pusher Street indicate that new drug dealers are not going to be discouraged from the behaviour norms stipulated in Christiania to segregate cannabis sales from other drugs (Moeller, 2009). At political level, lessons need to be learnt from the crackdown on the drug network at Pusher Street. An appraisal of the needed resources should be made to ensure continuous police action. In the absence any concrete plan, all hard work done to control drug trafficking on Pusher Street has more chances of going waste (Moeller, 2009). Success of a Drug-control Strategy Kirkos et al. (2008) have presented a strategy to control the production, distribution and use of Methamphetamine in the York region, a jurisdiction of 1,000,000 inhabitants in the Greater Toronto. The York Regional Police had captured methamphetamine in 2001; it was a small quantity meant for individual use. The bigger haul of the drug was captured by the York Police in 2007 of 3445 g. Another bigger ecstasy capture along with many laboratory and street-level captures resulted in the removal of 958 318 ecstasy pills from the streets. Year-on the quantum of seizure of drugs has been increasing due to police action. In Canada, a multifarious methodology has been practiced to control drug trafficking by attending to the predisposing situations and issues related to health, child welfare and reach to treatment, education and awareness. Working together, the York Regional Police and the York Region Health Services Substance Abuse Prevention Programme has collaborated in formulating the York Region Methamphetamine Strategy to attend to the not only usage but production control of the drug as well in the area. Participants to the partnership also include elected officials, school boards, the courts, at risk communities and private industry (Kirkos, 2008). Present Drug Control Situation As per the UKDPC (2009) review of the evidence related to law enforcement, area based interventions are recommended through local policing actions, on such areas that are more prone to drug trafficking. Focus on inter-departmental collaboration by employing various traditional approaches against drug dealers besides inspiring drug users for taking control treatment and area cleaning is recommended to create faith in drug policing (UKDPC, 2009). A case study on Staffordshire, called Operation Nemesis for collaborative efforts of various stakeholders was aimed at a region of Stoke on Trent, which had become a hub for Class A drugs in the Midlands. The area was more prone to violence. A huge covert intelligence action to be followed up with an enforcement action was organised, including various stakeholders. The purpose of the operation was achieved through reduced reported crime, positive response in the community platforms and surveys, higher number of calls to Crime-controllers, higher admission of drug treatment cases and success in prosecuting level 2 and 3 drug dealers. Due to the success of the operation, it has been included in the main agenda, as all stakeholders have been arranging funds for the operation nemesis (UKDPC, 2012). McSweeney, et al. (2008) has recommended measures in future policy on approaches for controlling the illegal drug business. These include supply control approaches, demand cutting tactics, minimising drug-related loss and creating multi-partner community answerability. According to a survey report, proactive functions related to sources of drug supply were on the reducing during 2011-12, as per the opinion of more than a quarter of policemen. Out of various critical drug related activities, 38% respondents expressed concern that covert surveillance was reducing while nearly 27% force respondents were hoping a cut back on the use of drug dogs (Beck, 2011). Recommended Conclusion The four pillar approach guarantees care to addiction and affected local people. At the same time, actual prevention and education programmes are run to promote taking of readily available treatment and help to control losses to the surrounding communities. The strategy design focuses on the criticality of enforcement to minimise violence related to drug use and work out an answer to the negative repercussions of the drug trade on local communities by aiding public health programmes and sending offenders to drug services. The strategy supports equilibrium between public order and public health. The York Region Methamphetamine Strategy includes 27 programmes. Helping victims of crime and working with the people are central policing values. 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