Strategy Nine: IMPLEMENTATION STEPS

Using the strategy of curtailing neighborhood retail drug markets through citizen surveillance, the section below provides guidance on how prevention advocates can go about implementing the strategy.

Step 1: Build a Foundation. The first step in this process is to meet with other members of the community who are impacted by the problem. Once there is initial agreement about the general issues regarding the sale of illicit drugs in your community, contact the community relations office at your local police station to discuss drug-related community problems and potential solutions. Try to establish a bond with the police to coordinate prevention efforts for the community.

Step 2: Assess the Community. You may want to conduct a brief assessment of the community to initially identify drug “hot spots.” Gather information related to the extent of the problem in your community. This data will provide a baseline for you to evaluate the strategy. You may want to collect data from the police on drug-related offenses, and if possible, map out where these arrests tend to occur. Conducting focus groups with members from different areas of the community may help you learn more about the problem. In addition, you may want to conduct key informant interviews with local business people, healthcare representatives (Emergency room doctors and nurses are often very knowledgeable about the scope of the problem.), and other community leaders. The interviews will not only help you learn more about the problem, but they may also serve as a means for introducing your prevention strategy to other members of the community.

Step 3: Develop an Action Plan. Determine how your citizen surveillance patrols will be organized. Develop a written plan that describes the implementation of this particular strategy. Include in the plan a list of goals, needs, and assets of the coalition. An action plan for this particular strategy should at a minimum include the following steps: (1) a training plan; (2) forms and procedures for neighbors involved to document suspicious activity (including the possibility of establishing an anonymous hotline number); (3) regularly scheduled meetings with the police; and (4) a media advocacy component.