The nightly news and other media provide a constant reminder of illegal drug transport over American borders and along routes between various U.S. cities. The general public is well aware that law enforcement efforts to address the foreign supply and trafficking of illegal drugs into the United States is an ongoing battle.This useful and readable c

The nightly news and other media provide a constant reminder of illegal drug transport over American borders and along routes between various U.S. cities. The general public is well aware that law enforcement efforts to address the foreign supply and trafficking of illegal drugs into the United States is an ongoing battle.This useful and readable compendium gives a fascinating account of how illegal drugs are transported into and around the United States and throughout its neighborhoods. Criminologist and geographer George F. Rengert takes a unique approach to the problem of illegal drug distribution and U.S. drug markets. Using maps and charts to illustrate his findings, Rengert applies spacial diffusion models to the illegal drug trade and explains why certain drugs are transported and found in different parts of the country. For example, the highest concentration of marijuana plants is not on either coast, but rather across the middle of the United States--throughout what is known as the corn belt. At the local level Rengert assesses the patterns and processes that interconnect drug sales and neighborhood deterioration and change.The book also addresses the important issues of how illegal drugs in this country operate on wholesale and retail levels and ways in which law enforcement at the federal, state, and local levels contend with this widespread problem. Using ethnographic material to provide real-life examples, Rengert explores how drug dealers on the street expand spatially and predictably in their neighborhoods. He illustrates how this knowledge helps law enforcement in efforts to get these drugs off the streets.

A multipronged policing strategy to reduce drug trafficking in local communities is proposed in this new book by three Temple University researchers. The proposed strategy has been developed during a comprehensive study of illegal drug markets in a medium-sized East Coast city. According to the authors, the U.S. "war on drugs" has been largely ineffective, both at home and abroad. Evaluations have reported little positive impact from policies intended to: a) interdict the supply of illegal drugs imported from foreign countries; b) reduce demand for illegal substances among youths through Drug Awareness Resistance Education (DARE) programs; and c) arrest large numbers of drug sellers during "crackdowns" in high-risk neighbourhoods. The alternative strategy outlined in this book begins with detailed economic and geographic analysis of what makes particular locations attractive sites for illegal drug markets. Police then select from a menu of 76 tested crime prevention tactics intended to make those locations unprofitable for drug trafficking, with different combinations of techniques targeted at indoor sales of illegal substances, or the purchasers of illegal drugs, and/or the dealers. The authors conclude that: "The police officers who patrol on a daily basis are in a unique position to determine what the problems of a particular site are. In tackling these [drug] problems, the police should be encouraged to think beyond their traditional role as crime fighters into a new role as problem solvers.