U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

NCJRS Virtual Library

The Virtual Library houses over 235,000 criminal justice resources, including all known OJP works.
Click here to search the NCJRS Virtual Library

Detecting Crack Houses: Citizen Hotline vs. Police Observation

NCJ Number
171953
Author(s)
L W Sherman; A E Beatty; D P Rogan
Date Published
1997
Length
15 pages
Annotation
In 1990, the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department launched a 24-hour drug hotline number to identify illegal drug dealing locations; citizens with information about the location of drug dealing were invited to call that number, with their anonymity protected.
Abstract
Between August and October 1990, 90 percent of 948 calls made to the drug hotline concerned addresses located in just three of the five patrol divisions in Kansas City. About 95 percent of locations reported by citizens were not known to the police, and 84 percent of locations identified by police patrols were not reported by citizens to the hotline. Locations identified by both citizens and police officers were far more violent and troublesome than locations identified by one group alone. Locations identified by either group were more violent and troublesome than city blocks not identified by either group. 4 figures