Stop and search or stop and engage?: Factors influencing community—police engagement around drug supply issues

Abstract

The police service in London report a commitment to inspiring confidence from, and responding to the needs of black and minority ethnic communities. They are also committed to tackling the supply of crack cocaine and heroin, with which members of the Jamaican and Turkish communities respectively are strongly identified. Members of these communities report concerns about drug supply issues, but are extremely reluctant to co‐operate with the police to address them because they perceive that they are unfairly targeted, particularly by the stop and search strategy. The challenge is to implement a long‐term, community engagement programme with strategic level commitment.

Citation

Fountain, J., Roy, A., Crompton, N., Anitha, S. and Patel, K. (2007), "Stop and search or stop and engage?: Factors influencing community—police engagement around drug supply issues", Drugs and Alcohol Today, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 37-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/17459265200700025