Police officers on drug corners in Philadelphia, drug crime, and violent crime: intended, diffusion, and displacement impacts

Citation

Webster, B.K. and Childress Webster, J. (2006), "Police officers on drug corners in Philadelphia, drug crime, and violent crime: intended, diffusion, and displacement impacts", Policing: An International Journal, Vol. 29 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/pijpsm.2006.18129baf.003

Police officers on drug corners in Philadelphia, drug crime, and violent crime: intended, diffusion, and displacement impacts

Brian A. Lawton, Ralph B. Taylor and Anthony J. LuongoJustice QuarterlyVol. 22 No. 42005pp. 427-451

Lawton et al., evaluate the impact of a “crackdown” aimed at reducing drug crimes in Philadelphia, PA. Termed Operation Safe Streets (launched on May 1, 2002) the program placed officers at 214 of the highest drug activity locations in the city around the clock. Data describing how individual officers spent their time at these locations was not available; it is not clear what the officers did during this time (if anything). Therefore this study evaluated the impact of merely the presence of officers at these targeted locations.

Interrupted time series (ARIMA) models on weekly data (from 121 weeks pre-intervention to 18 weeks post-intervention) revealed no significant city-wide impact on homicides, violent crimes, or drug crimes. However, geographic analysis did reveal significant localized reduction in both violent and drug crimes. Analysis of high-drug-activity non-intervention sites indicated these reductions were not due to history or local history; they could reasonably be attributed to the intervention program.

While there was evidence of significant diffusion of benefits for violent crime, the evidence was mixed for drug crime. The authors conclude that some spatial displacement of drug crime likely occurred, but was countered by a diffusion of benefits, resulting in a net decrease in drug crime. The authors note the process of selecting target locations may be different for violent versus drug crimes, resulting in stationary programs such as Operation Safe Streets having differential impacts.

The authors conclude that Operation Safe Streets was clearly not the resounding city-wide success touted by the news media and city leaders. However, the program did have some significant localized success. The issue logically raised is one of costs versus benefits. As Lawton et al., point out, crackdowns are popular, and can be effective to varying degrees; however, as with Operation Safe Streets, they are often very costly measures (in terms of police resources and manpower).

Brandon K. Webster, Jennifer Childress Webster