D rug and Alcohol Review (199 9) 18, 477 486

H A R M R E D U C T IO N D IG E S T 7

Z e ro to leran ce po lic in g o f illegal d r ug

m ark e ts
D AV ID D IX O N 1 & P H IL L IP C O F F IN 2
1

Faculty of L aw, U niversity of N ew South Wales, Sydney, N SW, Australia & 2 The
L indesm ith C enter, N ew York, N Y 10019, U SA

S ince Australia n Prim e M inister, Joh n H ow ard, m et

w ith U S Fed e ral B ureau of Investiga tion s director,
L ou is Free h, there has be en talk abo ut Australian
au tho rities ado ptin g the strateg y or at le ast rheto ric of
zero to lera nce policin g (ZT P) o n drug
issues. A lth ou gh there w as ap paren tly delibe rate
co nfla tion o f N ew York C ity s po licin g strateg ies w ith
broa der U S -style
zero tolerance (Z T ) policies on
dru gs in scho ols , public ho using, etc. such discussio n
is o f im m e dia te co ncern fo r those w ork ing to m inim ize
health an d soc ial pro blem s assoc iated w ith d rug use.
T he im plic ation of the
zero tolerance m essag e is that
red ucin g dru g use and sales should take precede nce
over redu cin g d eath , disea se, ad dic tion or crim e,
reg ardles s o f costs.
T here are som e strateg ies that have em erg ed from
ZT or
brok en w indo w theories of policin g w hich m ay
be of use in po lic ing dru g m arkets. H o w ever, it is clea r
that the ben e fits have been gr eatly exa gg era ted .
M or eov er, too m uch o f the strateg y and too m any o f its
tactic s have co sts that targeted co m m u nities w ou ld not
know ing ly o ffer to pay. Fo llo w ing a review of the
liter ature o n ZT P and its im plem en tatio n vis-a-vis

dru g m arkets in N ew York C ity and Syd ney, harm

red uctio n m ode ls of po lic ing w ill be o utlin ed , inco rpo ratin g som e of the unspo ken or inadverten t g oals
co m m o n to policin g tod ay.
W h at is it?

Zero tolerance policin g is m islead ing from the start,

as the phrase sug ges ts that
zero is an attain able goa l
and purpo rts to elim inate police d iscretio n ab ou t w hat
and w ho is to be targ ete d. In reality, Z T P is shorth an d
fo r three rela te d policin g strateg ies. T h ese need to be
distin g uished, even thoug h in practic e th ey often
overlap and inter relate. Fir st, po lic e foc us o n disord er
and stree t o ffe nces w ith the expectation that d oin g so
w ill red uce seriou s crim e . T his is fou nd ed on W ilso n
and Kellin g s
brok en w indo w s m eta phor. T hey
argu ed that if a bro ken w indow in a bu ild ing is not
rep aired , o thers w ill be bro ken . T he rest o f the
building , then the street, then the neig hbourhood w ill
de ter ior ate. If hum an
broken w indo w s such as
the
ill-sm ellin g d runk, the row dy teen age r, or the im po rtuning beg g ar are no t fixe d, m ore seriou s crim e w ill

D avid D ixon, A sso ciate Pro fesso r, Faculty of L aw, U niversity of N ew So uth Wa les, Sydney, N SW 2 052 , Australia. e-m a il:
d.dix on@ unsw.ed u.au; Phillip O. C offin, R esearch A sso cia te, T he L indesm ith C enter, 925 N inth Avenu e, N ew Yo rk N Y 1 001 9, U SA .
e-m ail: pcoffin@ so ro sny.o rg . C orresp ondence to D avid D ix on.
N ote from th e E d itor
In Australia , recent public debate concernin g the policing of illicit drug markets has included the the phrase
zero tolerance policing. In this D igest D avid
D ixon, from the U niversity of N ew South Wales and P hillip Coffin, from the Lindesm ith C entre in N ew York clarify w hat the term means, present evidence
regard ing its effectivene ss in the USA and Australia , consider alternativ e approaches, and draw some conclusions regarding whether there is a place for zero
tolerance policing of illicit drug markets in Australia .
S IM O N L E N T O N

ISSN 09 59 52 35 print/IS S N 146 5 337 0 online/9 9/0 404 77 10 Austr alian Professio n al S ociety on A lcoho l and O ther D rug s

478

D avid D ixon & P hillip Coffin

g row from su ch disord er [1] . Sec on d ly, po lic e m aintain the sam e foc us, bu t the ir priority is im provem en t
of
q uality o f life in loca l are as. T hirdly, police en g ag e
in pro activ e, inten sive o pe ration s directed at peo ple,
plac es and prop erty iden tified by risk assessm en t
tech niq ues. C o nsid erin g the last of these w o uld en tail
shiftin g the foc us o f d eb ate fro m the m islead ing ly
sim ple co ncep t o f zero toleran ce to m ore com plex and
sign ific ant deve lop m en ts in policin g [ 2].
Z T P in rela tion to illega l dru gs involv e s a variety o f
tactic s: sw eep s, block adin g, m ass unifor m ed presen ce,
und erco ver buy-b ust, sur veillan ce via clo sed -circ uit
telev isio n (C C T V very w id ely u sed in the U K and
m uch of N ew York C ity and installed in Australia n

hotsp ots, such as S ydn eys C ab ram atta) and, in the

U nited S tates, civil law en fo rcem en t [ 3] . A ll these
tactic s, how eve r, m ay be fou nd in police strateg ies that
are not ZT. A s a policin g strategy, Z T P has to be
distin g uished fr om ea rlier and oth er street-le vel
crack d ow ns if the phrase is to have any u sefu l
m ean ing, o ther than as a slog an for w hat peop le like or
do not like.
W hen Z T P is applied to drug m arke ts, po lic e direct
their atte ntion to the botto m en d of the m arket,
partic ula rly street sales. T he three strategie s no ted
ab ove ca n have uninten d ed sid e effect s. T he sim plified
version of
broken w indow s fits clos ely w ith an
establish ed policin g strateg y o f targ etin g street-lev e l
partic ip ants (b eca use they are easily id en tified ) and
using info rm atio n ob tain ed fr om them to
clim b the
pyram id o f the drug m arket, lead ing to the arrest o f
la rg e-sca le d ealers. Au stralian resea rch sug g ests that
this ap pro ach is ineffect ive: Sutton & Jam es and
G reen & Purnell show that the m ore ge neral strateg y
in Australian d ru g po lic ing of targetin g hig h-le vel
su pply has been unsu cces sfu l and that the ou tcom e has
usually been to traw l in u sers and user-dea lers [ 4,5] .
In N ew S outh Wa les (N S W ), co nvictio ns for use and
possessio n o f narco tics m or e than d oubled in
199 5 9 8, w hile con viction s for d ealin g rem ain ed
co nstant [ 6]. S im ila rly, acc ord ing to N ew York Polic e
D ep artm en t (N Y P D ) statistics, the incre ase in drug
arrests fro m 65 00 0 in 19 93 to 13 0 0 00 in
199 8 w as d riven alm o st en tirely by low -lev el street
users and sellers [7 ].
A im ing to im pro ve the q uality of life in neig hbourhoo ds ca n m ean inten sive policin g d irec ted at drug
m arkets by po lic e w ho have no exp ec tation that their
inter ven tion s w ill d o m o re than d isplace the m arket
w ith o ut red ucin g its overa ll size. A strong exa m ple of
this is provid ed by researc h on C ab ram atta, w here this

ap pro ach w as do m inant. Po lic e use the m etap ho r o f

aircra ft nois e (a m ajo r pro blem in S ydne y), su gg estin g
that the aim should be to d ivid e u p the pro blem and
disperse it in the inter ests of equ ity both to affec te d
co m m u nities and to po lic e. T his ap pro ach m ay be
co m bin ed w ith harm m inim izatio n rhetor ic: som e
senior po lic e argue that
the pro blem w ill not be
solved w hile su ch dru gs are ille gal and that, in the
m ean tim e, police can do no m ore than reduce the
harm fu l effect s o f d rug s and their pro hib ition . T he
difficu lty w ith this acco unt is, of course, that it fa ils to
ac know ledg e the bread th o f harm s ca used by crack do w ns o n stre et-lev el dru g m arke ts (see d iscussio n o f
C ab ram atta below ) [ 2, 8 ]. It is also hig hly iron ic that
su ch inten t tacitly en courag es drug m arkets to m o ve,
at a sm aller scale, into oth er neig hbourhood s. If the

broken w indo w s thesis is cor rec t i.e . that m ino r

diso rder lead s to m o re seriou s crim e on e w ould
expect that d iffu sion of a m arket sho uld be rega rded as
hig hly und esirab le. Police w o uld resp on d that they
expect to be able to d eal m o re effect ively w ith sm allscale, d ispla ced m arkets. T here is, how ever, little
evid en ce o f this. O n the con trary, d ispla ced drug
m arkets are likely to g row, pro ducing a larg er to tal
prob le m .
D o e s it w o rk ?

A s ever, the qu estion

do es it w ork ? invites the rip o ste

w hat are the criteria of succ ess? A s sug g ested abo ve,
zero to lera nce polic ing m ay refer to a variety o f
strateg ies . N otab ly, w e m ust d istin gu ish tho se prio ritizing reduction in serio us crim e fro m those prio ritizing im pro vem en t in q uality of life.

Serious crime
D oes ZT P red uce seriou s crim e (spe cifical ly drug
crim e) by targ etin g m ino r street offen ces ? In N e w
York C ity, press cov erag e abo ut the Police D ep artm en ts
ze ro toler ance policin g has been co rrela ted
w ith a lon g -running d rop in crim e and an ap paren t
de clin e in the visib ility of drug d ealin g in m any area s
of the city. Yet m any q uestion s, w hich ap ply eq ually
w ell to policin g in itiativ es in Au stralia, rem ain unansw ered . H ow d istin ctive have the chang ing crim e
pattern s been to N ew Yo rk C ity, w hen m ost m ajo r U S
cities have experien ced sim ulta neou s drop s in crim e?
H ow m uch d o N Y P D strategie s ac tu ally repr esen t
Z T P and how m u ch of the transfor m ation has
invo lved oth er chang es m ade in the D ep artm en t?

H arm Reduction D igest 7

A lth oug h po lic e have played a ro le in the d eclin ing
crim e in N ew York C ity, it is im portan t no t to o verlo ok
the ro le played by w hat has been refer red to as a

m irac le eco nom y and the leg itim ate econ om ic activities it provid es. C rim e rates have dec lin ed in the
199 0s in 17 of the 25 la rg est A m erica n cities and 12 of
the 17 advanced ind ustrial countrie s [9,10 ]. In the
U nited States, crim e has dro pped w he re very d ifferen t
policin g strateg ies w ere in effect [ 11] . From 1993 to
199 8, the num ber of crim e s rec ord ed by the F B I
red uce d 3 3.3% natio nally, slig htly m ore in C aliforn ia
and slig htly le ss in N ew Yo rk S tate [1 2,13] . Fr om
199 7 to 1 998, F B I-record ed crim e drop ped 9 % in
N ew York C ity (to 323 192 ) and 11% in S an Fran cisco
(to 46 1 39); la rcen y/theft offen ces dec lin ed 6% in N ew
York C ity (to 147 03 7) and 12 % in S an Fran cisc o (to
25 349 ) (recen t d ata con firm that hom icid es in
B rook ly n increa sed 28% in the fir st half of 19 99) [12 ].
W hile N ew Yo rk C ity authorities boas ted of Z T P, the
m ayo r, district attorn ey and police chief o f S an
Fra ncisco band ed tog eth er w ith rheto ric o f to lera nce
and diversion of low -lev el offen de rs to socia l servic es [14] . T herefor e, crim e rates m ay be red uce d
w hen strateg ies oth er than Z T P are em ploy ed . T he net
ben efit fro m such strateg ies over ZT P can be
m easured as the lac k of the la tter s cou n ter produ ctive
effect s.
Z T P w as o nly o ne of m any chang es in policin g in
N ew Yo rk C ity d uring the 19 90s. M o st im po rtantly,
police num bers g rew dram atica lly and the d ep artm en t
ad op ted co m pute r-assisted targ etin g of risk zon es,
w hich also allow ed better super vision and scrutin y o f
police perfo rm ance and im pro ved m ora le. M ore over,
unique aspec ts of N e w York su ch as a rela tively hig h
rate of illeg al fir earm po ssession and vio len ce betw een
unaffilia ted ind ivid uals sug g est that the ben e fits of
g iven policin g strateg ies in N ew Yo rk m ay no t be
transfera ble to oth er lo cales [2] . W hile it is not
su rprising that the public ity acco rded to N ew Yo rks
fa llin g crim e rate has attracted atten tion fro m politician s, police and press fro m Australia and, indeed ,
fr om aro und the w o rld , it is quite w ron g to tak e hom e
the sim ple m essag e that Z T P w or ked in N ew York and
it ca n w o rk in Australia or else w here.
M o re g en erally, the
bro ken w ind ow s thesis lac ks
em pirical verifica tion . T h e m ajor stu dy w hich claim ed
to show a co nnectio n betw een m inor and m ajo r
crim e Sko ga ns D isorder and D ecline [ 15] has
been rig oro usly reex am ined by B ern ard H arco urt,
w ho con clude s that S kog ans d ata do n ot show that
diso rder le ads to crim e and co nseq uen tly
d o not

479

su ppo rt the brok en w ind ow s hypoth esis[1 6]. T he re

are no stud ies show ing that fo cusing on m ino r dru g
crim e red uces seriou s crim e. M ore often , the co nnection is reverse d: as noted ab ove, Au stralian resea rch
ind ica te s that strateg ies osten sib ly targetin g hig h-le vel
dru g m arket particip ants ten d usu ally to im pa ct o n
those tow ard s the botto m of the m arket. Presen tatio ns
of po lic ing d irec te d at user-de aler s as part o f a strateg y
aim ed at hig h-lev el d ealers are usu ally attem pts to
ac cou nt fo r failu re to pen etrate the u ppe r lev els o f
dru g m arkets [17 ].
W hat o f the m ost sop histicated fo rm of ZT P, w hich
is bu t a featu re of bro ade r proac tive, intellige nce-le d
policin g strateg ies ? T here is m od era tely stron g e vide nce that fo cusing po lice resou rces o n high -risk
peop le and pla ces ca n help red uce seriou s crim e [1]
w ith , ac cor ding to crim inolo gist L aw rence Sherm an,

the excep tion o f arrests targ eted o n drug prob lem s[1 8]. T he evide nce in fav ou r of tradition al drug
crack d ow ns alm o st un iversally sho w s no effec t on
crim e, w ith the excep tion of on e study of crack hou se
raids in w hich viole nt crim e d eclin ed , but returned to
nor m al w ith in 7 d ays [ 19], and a stud y in Jersey C ity
w hich m easured a tem po rary d eclin e in
disor der [ 20] . At best, crack d ow ns pro du ce te m po rary
red uctio ns in d rug m arket activ ity at substantial risk o f
co unter-p ro ductive effec ts. Z T P, how e ver, is d istin ct in
that the suppression o f d rug m arket activ ity is a m ean s
to an en d, rather than an en d in itself [2 ].

Quality of life
C an Z T P im prove the qu ality of life in neig hbourhoo ds? Researc h in S ydney s C ab ram atta certainly
ind ica te s that inten sive policin g of a very active hero in
m arket in the ce ntral business d istrict has im prove d
co nditio ns in that area [ 17,8] . S im ilarly, in N ew York
C ity, the g ain s ap pear substan tia l: w ith 500 0 N Y P D
offic ers assig ned to narcotics a vast increase since
199 5 [ 21] o pen -air drug m arkets in m uch of the
city have been dram atic ally curtailed in rec en t y ears. A
m ajor fo cus of
qu ality of life e ffo rts has be en in the
E ast Villag e of M anhatta n, w here inten sive e nfor cem en t and police presen ce have all but elim inated on ceubiq uitou s m ariju ana and co cain e sales in Was hing to n
S quare Park and alo ng S t M arks P lac e. Few resid en ts
de ny that the d eclin e in stree t sales im proves qu ality of
life in the ne igh bo urhoo d, alth o ug h m any disag ree
w ith ho w it has been achiev e d.
T hese am bivale nt assessm en ts raise the key question s in evaluatin g ZT P s im pac t o n q uality of life: do

480

D avid D ixon & P hillip Coffin

the g ain s as m uch as they are the resu lt of Z T P

ju stify the cou nter prod uctive effe cts? C ou ld su ch g ain s
have been w on w ith out pro du cin g m ajor sec on d ary
co sts including fallou t to pu blic hea lth and co m m u nity w elfar e fro m ZT P ? H ow are com m unities
affec ted by high -tec h sur veillan ce, buy-b ust op eration s, street sw eep s and unpro voked searc h an d
harassm en t? W hat are the resu lts of the strain Z T P
plac es o n po lic e co m m unity rela tion s? W hat happ en s
to those caug ht in the expande d Z T P ne t? C o nsid erin g
these issues, the criteria for su cces s o f ZT P bec om e
increasing ly m ud dled.
Firs t, claim s ab o ut the succ ess of ZT P all too often
assum e that chang e in m arg inalized , m inority neig hbourhood s m ust be the result of extern al inter ve ntion .
H ow e ver, eth nog rap hic resear ch in N ew Yo rk C ity
su gg ests that the cru cia l d ynam ic fo r chang e has com e
fr om w ith in, rather than o utsid e, such com m unities.
B ased o n nine pro jec ts o ver 10 years in severa l
B rook ly n neig hbo urho od s, R ic hard C urtis con clude d
that com m unitie s them selv es have played a cen tral ro le
in red ucin g crim e and shiftin g pattern s o f d rug sales
and u se. D rug d ealin g, in particu lar w he n it to ok o n
su perm arke t and /or cor po rate featu res, involv ed lev els
of vio len ce that m ad e N ew Yo rk C ity notorio us fr om
the late 19 70s until the ear ly 199 0s [22 ]. C urtis
de scrib ed on e period practice o f policin g that alien ated
co m m u nity reside nts:
[W ] hen
sw e ep ing the m ain drug sellin g area s,
the offic ers w ou ld cor don off both en d s o f a stree t
and requ ire everyon e in betw een to lie do w n,
reg ardles s of w ho the y w ere. W hile this tactic
som etim es yield ed a hand som e num ber o f arrests,
it also o blig ed eld erly gr andm o the rs and you ng
children to g ro vel o n the asphalt w hile be ing
ro ug hly searched and it en rag ed m any
resid en ts [ 23] .
Ac cor ding to C urtis, som e police w ho w ere afr aid to
en ter sho otin g ga ller ies w ould throw larg e roc ks
throu gh the w indo w s to flu sh dru g u sers out. T his
practice w as reve aled w hen a ro ck flew by the head of
a prize-w inning repo rter fo r the L os A ngeles Tim es w ho
had been in ter view ing hero in injector s [ 24] .
A ga inst prediction s o f con tin u ed w o rsening crim e
and a g en era tion of
super-p redator you th, crim e
de clin ed in N ew Yorks inner-city neig hbo urho od s in
the m id-19 90s. C urtis po ints to im proved ec on om ic
op por tu nities and the d eclin e o f crack u se, but
em phasizes d eep er cultu ral chang es su ch as the
em erg en ce of po sitive ga ng influ en ces . T he L atin

K ing s, w ho had pro te cted L atin os in prison and jail,

provided a stru ctu re in civilian life and w ere praise d
fo r year s as a positive influ en ce on L atin o co m m u nities [ 25] . D rug dea lin g con tin ued, bu t w as m o re
integ rated into co m m u nities and involv ed fa r les s
vio len ce . A m on g tho se w ho rem ained on the street,

com m unity-style d eale rs con tribu ted m o ney and tim e

to co m m u nity proje cts, stop ped sellin g d rug s du ring
pre- and po st-scho ol hours and co -o perated w ith
police to the exten t of redu cin g prop erty and violen t
crim e in their te rritor y. T hese and oth er d ealers, w ho
had beg un to em ploy tru sted fr ien d s rather than easily
rep la cea ble w or kers, slo w ly shifted tow ard ind oor sales
and d eliv ery services, red ucin g the likelih ood o f streetlev e l co nflict and violen ce.
C u rtis & Wen d el have d oc um en ted this drug
m arket transition . T he au tho rs differe ntiate betw een
stree t-lev el, in doo r and de livery sales and betw een
fr eelan ce, soc ially bon d ed and corp or ate stru ctu res to
dru g d ealin g netw o rks, w hile dep ic tin g the pros and
co ns of eac h form at. T he shift fro m stree t-lev el
co rpora te and fr eela nce de alin g in the 198 0s to ind oo r
and d eliv ery, socia lly bon d ed netw or ks in the 1990 s
has, ac cord ing to C urtis & Wen d el, been a pow erfu l
fo rce in red ucin g crim e [ 26]. W hile crim e has been
drop ping , the N Y P D has con tin ue d to inten sify streetlev e l cam paign s and increase the num ber of peo ple
arrested eac h yea r, using the d ro ps in crim e as
evid en ce o f succe ss. From C urtiss perspec tive, how ever, it is the drop in crim e that led to increased
policin g of petty offen ces : w ith crim e de clin ing , a
g row ing police force w ould have little to do if it did not
fo cus o n low -lev el offen ces, including jayw alk ing ,
lo iterin g , tre spassing o r d rinking be er in public. W hile
policin g pla yed a role in the drop in crim e in these
co m m u nities , it w as the boo m ec on o m y, cu ltural
changes and the transfo rm ed d rug m arkets w hich
provided ind ivid uals w ith new d irec tion .
S eco ndly, ZT P prop on en ts often ign o re the im pact
on com m un ity health . A s detaile d by M aher & D ixo n,
the ZT P-in spired O peratio n Puccin i in C abram atta
prod uce d seriou s risks to pu blic health by en co uragin g
unsafe sto rag e, transfer and injectio n o f dru gs and, as
discu ssed ab o ve, seriou s risks to public safe ty by
displa cin g and d iffu sing m arkets, en cou rag ing
increased sophistic ation and org anization in supply
and harm ing po lic e co m m unity relatio ns [17 ,8,27] .
S tre et-lev el de aler s in C ab ram atta have respon d ed to
inten sive po lic ing by sto ring d rug cap s in their m o uths
or nasal cavities (68% o f respo nden ts repo rted that,
du ring their m ost recen t heroin pu rchase, the dea ler

H arm Reduction D igest 7

retrieved the heroin from his o r her m o uth or no se).
T his can lead to d isease transm ission and increase d
risk of o verd ose w hen the drug s are sw allo w ed upon
de tec tion by police. D ata also sho w that users are
de ter red from carrying in jectin g eq uip m en t even
thoug h syring e po ssession is leg al becau se of po lic e
harassm en t. H ig h-risk injectio n practices in jectin g
qu ick ly o r reck les sly, sharing syrin ges and oth er
paraphern alia, or im prop erly disposin g o f syring es
are ano ther peril of hea vy en fo rcem en t. D ispersal o f
dru g users and m arkets can ad d to individ ual and
co m m u nity health risks.
T hird ly, the re is increa sin g co ncern about the effe cts
of ZT P on civil lib erties . T he plac em en t o f C C T V
ca m eras, w ith out any pu blic notice, has led th e N ew
York C ivil L ib ertie s U nion to co llec t inform atio n o n
hid den cam eras and post the results on the org anizations w eb site. C on tin u ous pa trols of lo cal pa rks m ea ns
that po lic e at tim e s outnum ber civilian s and the clo su re
of severa l
g reen thum b g ard en s to en courag e fu rther
g en trificatio n is a blow to those resid en ts trying to
build a m or e coh esive co m m unity. So m e specific Z T P
tactic s used have been d escrib ed as
unco nstitutio nal
in policin g litera tu re [28] , including the use of
lo iterin g la w s (the version o f those law s in C hic ag o w as
rec en tly d eem ed unco nstitution al by the U S Su prem e
C ou rt) and street inte rrog ation s. A g rea ter con cer n is
the effect of such po lic ing in the lo ng term : bein g
de tained for petty violatio ns can serio usly affect fu tu re
em ploy m e nt op por tu nities, lea d to the co m m ission of
m ore seriou s crim e and d ecr ease com m unity resp ect
fo r police [18 ].
Fo urthly, a related co ncer n, ZT P can redu ce police
leg itim acy. Inten sive , pro -active po lic ing ca n actually
lea d to m o re severe social d iso rd er in the form o f
riots, som e o f w hich m ay stem fro m the rela ted
prob le m of w o rsening rela tion s betw een po lice and
the com m unity. L esson s w hich w e re lear ned fr om
riots in the U nited States in the 19 60s and B rita in
in the 1980 s are, it seem s, be ing fo rgo tten . A lth oug h
N ew York C ity has experien ced rela tively pea cefu l
protes ts thus fa r, po lice assau lts on tw o bla ck
resid en ts in recen t years have severely raised ten sio ns.
T he press atten tio n on A bner L ouim a, w ho w as
sodo m ized w ith a broken bro om stick in the bathro om of a B ro ok lyn police d ep artm en t, and on
A m ad ou D iallo, w ho w as shot 19 tim e s by the
N YPD
S tre et C rim es U nit w hile stan ding unarm e d
in the do or w ay to his bu ild ing , also brou gh t N Y P D
tactic s into the public eye. T hese cases have beco m e
poten t sym bo ls of co ncern ab ou t ZT P.

481

W hile the fir st even t w hich recen tly resulted in

the con vic tio n o f tw o police office rs unde r fed eral civil
righ ts statu te s has bee n described as an exam ple o f
racism on the police forc e, the secon d even t exposed a
m ore syste m ic pro blem w ith current po lic ing tactic s.
T he Stree t C rim es U nit and oth er aspec ts o f ZT P in
N ew Yo rk C ity becam e the fo cus of vitriolic attack s in
the press and pu blic, as a bro ad spectr um of city
resid en ts protested ag ain st system atic profilin g based
on race and polic e harassm en t for petty infra ction s.
W hile police com m issio ner H ow ard S afir d en ies that
police en ga ge in racia l profilin g, on e o f his o fficers ,
testifying under a hood , stated that the reaso n S afir
w ill not relea se rep or ts from any of the 45 000 sto ps
m ad e by S treet C rim e s last yea r is becau se the o fficia l
ju stificatio ns fo r the sto ps are fa brica ted [ 29] . E vide nce w as also recor ded that o fficers m isrep ort the
race o f bla ck suspec ts to influ en ce data collec tio n.
Ac cor ding to Jam e s Savag e, presid en t o f the Patro lm ens B en e volen t A ssocia tion , the
pro ductivity g oa ls
issued by police co m m anders in N ew York C ity are
qu otas in bo th policy and practic e [ 30]. T his is an
exam ple o f the broa der prob lem , recen tly iden tified by
H er M ajesty s Inspectora te of C on stab ulary, o f

uneth ica l practic es resu ltin g from the pressu re on

police
to perfo rm w ell, and d em on strate thro ug h hig h
de tec tion rates that they are d oin g so[3 1]. A num ber
of ca ses in volv ing m anip ulation of crim e statistics
by A m eric an police dep artm e nts have been
rep o rte d [2] .
T his raises the possib ility of oth er form s o f
co rruption [32] . D rug policin g has alw ays offere d
tem ptation s and op por tu nities. Se veral stud ies and
investiga tion s of d rug -rela te d police cor ruption fou nd
on -d uty officer s en ga ged in serio us crim inal activities ,
su ch as (1) co ndu ctin g unco nstitution al search e s and
seizures; (2 ) ste alin g m on ey and/or d rug s fro m drug
de aler s; (3 ) sellin g stole n d rug s; (4) protec tin g drug
op eration s; (5) provid ing fals e testim o ny; and (6)
su bm ittin g fals e crim e rep or ts. Ac cor ding to N Y P D
offic ials, som e police offic ers also en g ag ed in drug related crim es w hile off d uty [ 33] . Inte nsifying drug
policin g ca rries risks: betw ee n 1993 and 19 97, the
prop o rtion o f co rruption cases op en ed by the Fed era l
B u reau of Investigatio n that w ere d rug -rela te d
increased from 33 to 48% . Sim ila rly, the pro portio n o f
co nvicted office rs w hose crim e w as d rug-r elated ro se
fr om 46% to 5 3% [3 3].
T he broa d net ca st by Z T P affects bo th the fu tu re
of individu als w ho co m m it m ino r offen ces and the
leg itim acy of police in the eyes o f the co m m unity:

482

D avid D ixon & P hillip Coffin

T he neg ative e ffec ts o f an arrest recor d on lab or
m arket partic ip ation are substantial. T he effect s
of an arrest experien ce over a m inor o ffen se m ay
perm ane ntly low e r po lic e leg itim acy, both fo r the
arrested person an d their social netw o rk of fam ily
and frie nds. T he crim ino gen ic effect o f arrest
m ay m ake d eta inees m ore defian t and m or e pron e
to ang er in do m estic viole nce and child
ab use [ 18,3 4,35] .

M or eov er, resear ch over the past tw o d eca des sug ge sts
that polic e leg itim ac y actually preve nts crim e [3 6], a
fin ding that has beco m e w e ll-es tablish e d w ith resea rch
on com m unity po lic ing [3 7,38] .
Jo urnalists and researc hers have also co m plain ed
ab ou t the N Y P D s new fou n d retic en ce to share
inform ation . A lth oug h this w as a pro blem thro ug hout
the m id -199 0s, in recen t new s stories autho rities claim
that loca l and fed eral in vestig ation s into civil rig hts
vio latio ns m ean fu rthe r restric tion s on public acce ss to
police data [ 7]. M ayor Rudo lp h G iulian i rec en tly
su gg ested that relea sing such d ata o r, m o re to the
poin t, criticiz ing the N Y P D , co uld threaten the g ain s
that have been m ade so far.
A fin al co st o f ZT P is that incu rred in de alin g w ith
those arrested. In 1998 , N ew York State priso ns have
three tim es the nu m ber o f inm ates as they d id in 19 80
and 40 % of the increase is d ue to drug o ffe nces. T he
escala tin g rates of incarcera tion are ne ith er new to
G iulian is term nor unique to N ew York S tate, but
inten sive en for cem en t o f low -lev el crim es is not likely
to bring the nu m be rs d ow n. In stead , lo w-le vel
crim inals, w ho are less likely to be lo cked up
ind efin itely, w ill be exp osed to the crim ino ge nic and
dang erou s natu re o f priso ns and jails. In the U nited
S tates, related issues have includ ed m and ator y sen ten cin g w hic h has fa ced a g ro w ing ba ck la sh in
rec en t years and civil san ction s ag ain st drug users.
C ivil sanction s inclu de the den ial of w elfare ben efits
and public ho using righ ts to any ind ividual fo r w hom
there is evid en ce o f prese nt o r, in som e cases, past d rug
use.
T here are so m an y q uality o f life arrests and
issues of sum m on ses, hom eless peo ple becom e
crim inals. E verything they d o to sur vive is a
crim e. Sleep ing on a train, sleep ing in the park
thats ca lled
ca m pin g w ith ou t a perm it I had a
clien t w ho g ot a tic ket for
d estro ying pu blic
prop erty fo r lying on the gr ass and flatte ning it
(p erson al co m m u nica tion , N ew Yo rk, June 17,
199 9).

A s C o rinne C arey, a d efen ce attorn ey in N ew Yo rk,

de scrib es,
q uality o f life en forc em en t severely m arg inalizes som e parts of a co m m unity. S im ilarly, civil
sanction s in N e w York m andate the exclusion o f an
en tire fa m ily from pu blic housing if on e m em ber is
fo und to be involv ed in illeg al d rug activ ity. A lth o ug h,
as C arey rep or ts, m o st attor neys are able to fas hion it
su ch that on ly the pe rpetr ator is exclud ed from
hou sing ,
that m ean s a m em ber o f the fa m ily is
exclude d from the co m m u nity, crea tin g a gr oup of
und esirab les . Were unw illin g to ho use them so
m any live on the stre et and d ie or go to priso n. Z T P
is fo und ed u po n this division o f society into g oo d/bad ,
respectab le/unresp ectab le , o rderly/diso rderly categ orization s that are sug ges tive o f a policy of inten sive
m arg inalization and social exclusio n [ 2].
A s w ith the con ce pt of
zero to lera nce fo r any
public policy, the g oa l o f po lic ing dru g m arkets und er
su ch a strate gy is unclear. O vertly, the U S go al is a

drug -fr ee A m erica. H o w ever, w ith drug u se rate s

throu gh o ut the U nite d States hig her than they w ere
w hen G iu lian i to ok o ffice, d ru g pric es still at rec ord
lo w s in N ew Yo rk C ity and m arkets shiftin g to m or e
co nven ien t and les s risky m ed ia, it is u nclea r w hat the
rea l prior ities o f polic ing in N ew York C ity are and,
ind eed , w hat the app ro priate go als should be. If the
crite rion is redu cin g drug sale and co nsum ption , then
Z T P has not w ork ed in Sy dney eith er: nob od y claim s
that there is less heroin availab le than there w as 3 year s
ag o. O n the co ntrary, the price has dro ppe d by on ethird , q uality has bee n at leas t m ain tained and a
sign ific ant stre et-lev el coc ain e m arket is d evelo pin g. If
the criterio n is im pro ving q uality of life in a lo cal are a,
it is tru e that there has bee n som e sig nifican t
im pro vem en t in the cen tre of C abram atta, bu t at gr eat
co st, as noted ab ove.
T he criteria fo r succe ss need to be exam ined clos ely
and not, as is co m m o n in these de ba tes, sim ply
assum ed . Red ucin g a partic ula r lev el of reco rded
crim e or diso rder is on e criter ion . H o w ever, red ucin g
crim e has no inheren t claim to prior ity, and d isord er
co m es in m o re than on e form . It is nec essary in the
ca se of Z T P o f illeg al d rug s to includ e the prod uction
of co unterp rod uctive effe cts am o ng the criteria.
W h at are th e altern ative s?

M uch d iscu ssion ab out po lic ing d rug m arkets is

hob bled by the assum ption that the politica l go al o f
elim inatin g d rug sale s rep resen ts the true or realis tic
g oal fo r police. Ind eed , the difficu lty o f law e nfor ce-

H arm Reduction D igest 7

m en t to take o n the ideo log ic al g oa l of elim inatin g
dru g use co uld be on e reason that narcotics policin g
has beco m e a sep arate arm of m any d epa rtm en ts.
S im ila rly, research on policin g th at assu m e s the g oal is
to redu ce d rug availa bility m ay reinfo rce the belie f that
dru g law en forc em en t has a po lic e ob jec tive distin ct
fr om com m unity w e lfa re or even public ord er
co ncern s.
Po licin g and harm reduction , even w here the latter
is offic ial policy, are d ifficu lt to rec on cile. D em on ization o f drug users, the vie w o f law en for cem en t and
harm red uctio n as op pon en ts and unrealistic expectation s of society to w ard s law en forc em en t are just three
ob stacles to the d evelo pm en t o f a
harm redu ction
policin g strateg y [ 39]. H arm red uctio n prog ram m es
are often at direct o dd s w ith la w en fo rcem en t in the
U nited S tates, w here polic e m ay use drug ser vic es as
a m ean s to iden tify drug u sers or even , in som e cases,
stop and search prog ram m e partic ip ants af ter they
lea ve the prem ises. W hile m eth ad on e m ainten ance an d
syring e exch ang e prog ram m e s have been w id ely
ac cep ted in Australia, the tw o m essag es do no t use
dru gs but be safe if yo u d o are difficu lt to reco ncile
fo r those w hose job it is to en fo rce the law.
A harm red uctio n ap pro ach to policin g involv e s,
inter alia , u sing a prob lem -solv ing approac h rather
than assu m ing th e prio rity of la w en forc em en t in
de alin g w ith q uality o f life prob lem s ca used by drug
m arkets. Police sho uld be actively disco urag ed fr om
inapprop riate inte rven tio ns (co nfisca tin g o r destroying nee dles , inter ven ing at the poin t o f u se, etc .).
T he provisio n o f fac ilitie s for safer and non -p ublic
dru g co nsum ption sho uld also be co nsid ered . E vide nce from Fran kfu rt, S w itzerlan d an d H o llan d
su gg est that su ch facilit ies m ay d ecrea se overdose
fa talities , op en -air drug co nsum ption , im prop erly
disca rd ed sy ring es and unsafe inje ction practices [ 40] . A hea te d d eb ate in S yd ney resulted in an
uno fficia l
safe injectio n ro om and a reco m m e ndatio n
fr om the G o vern m en ts D rug S um m it that
T he
G overnm e nt sho uld not ve to pro po sals fr om non g overn m en t o rga nization s for a tig htly con tro lled tria l
of m ed ica lly supervised injec tin g ro om s[ 41] . O n 27
July, 1 999, N S W Prem ier B o b C arr an nounced the
first officia l safe injec tion roo m tria l, to op en next
yea r in K ing s C ross [42 ].
C o nflicts betw e en d rug ser vices and law en forc em en t are pro ba bly inev ita ble. H o w ever, if drug use
and add ictio n are recog nized as he alth issu es, aven ue s
fo r co -o per ation rem ain op en . T he M aastrich t m unic ipal d rug prog ram m e in the sou th o f H ollan d co -

483

op erates exten sively w ith po lice authorities. T he g oa l

of the pro gr am m e is to keep drug use ab ove g rou nd
and thu s w ith in reac h o f services. M ea nw hile, the g oa l
of po lice en forc em en t is to ke ep d rug use and sales o ut
of the pubic eye so as to m inim ize nu isance and risks
to public o rder and to m axim ize public health . Police
fo cus their e ffo rts o n large-s cale d ealer s and loca l
de aler s w ho cause a nuisance in their com m unity.
D ealers w ho m ain tain a house ad dress, en su re that
cu stom ers do no t arrive at nig ht or in cars, provid e
cu stom ers w ith hea lth inform ation and a safe prod uct
and m aintain positive rela tion s w ith their neig hbours
are g en erally left alon e . H o w ever, de aler s w ho sell to
tou rists are con sid ered to be bo th irrespon sible and to o
public and thu s bec om e targ ets o f arrest and investig ation . W hen d rug users are arreste d, po lic e co ntact the
m unicip al d rug ser vices age ncy and a social w o rker is
sent to the station to m anag e the crisis, a role w hich
often involv es refer ring the d eta inee to a m eth ado ne
clin ic in her hom etow n o r co ntactin g frie nds, fam ily or
an em ployer to
co ver her trac ks. T he du al g oa ls o f
this w ork are to help the d rug user ga in ac cess to
servic es and to e nsure that the arrest do es not destroy
op por tu nities for the ind ivid ual to en g ag e prod uctive ly
in soc iety.
D u tch police and ser vice providers g en era lly con cur
that this arran gem en t, alth o ugh helpfu l in som e
instances , do es not resolv e the con flic t betw e en the

zero tolerance id eolog y o f dru g proh ibitio n and the

toler ance d esired and exercis ed by soc ial service
providers. In the case o f M aastrich t, co -op era tion
betw een d rug ser vic es and po lice help ed develop
co m m o n go als and op en com m u nica tion , a superio r
netw o rk of provid ers, co ntact w ith a broad er array o f
users and im pro ved op por tun ities fo r users to ob tain
em ploy m e nt o r co ntrib ute in oth er w ays to their
co m m u nities . O n the oth er han d, both ag en cies
m ain tain the ir ow n prio rities : law en force m e nt au tho rities often defin e the top ica l prob lem s solely in term s o f
public d iso rd er issu es, and the stig m a and bias aga inst
dru g u sers rem ains d eep ly ingr ain e d.
In policy and po litic al rhetor ic, harm m inim ization
and inten sive, pro -active po licin g are o ften en tang led .
S om e em bracin g of harm m inim ization is em pty
rhetor ic. For exam ple, in a recen t speech th e N SW
Police C om m issio ner expressed his co m m itm en t to
harm m in im izatio n, bu t w e nt on to criticize syring e
exchange s and m eth ado ne m ainten ance treatm en t
prog ram m e s on the g ro unds that they supported drug
use and created an
eve r-increasing circ le of d eath ,
crim e and d eca y[43] . B ecau se SE P and M M T are

484

D avid D ixon & P hillip Coffin

the principa l em bodim en ts of harm m inim ization

policy, the C om m issio ner s critiq ue sug ges ts th at harm
m inim ization is a rhe to rica l rather than a su bstantive
co m m itm en t. O thers argu e that law en fo rcem en t,
includ ing crack d ow ns, sho uld be u sed as part of a
strateg y to push users and u ser-dea lers into trea tm en t.
H ere, la w en for cem en t is presen ted as a to ol of harm
m inim ization [4 4,45 ]. T he prob lem s of this ap proa ch
includ e: (a) e ncou rag ing law en forc em en t activity
befo re pro vid ing the trea tm en t ser vices into w hich
users and user/dea lers are to be pushe d; (b ) overm ed icaliz ing the pro blem , i.e. relying on a m ed ica l
m od el of d evia nce and its rectific ation ; and (c)
und eres tim atin g the counterp ro du ctive effect s o f
inten sive policin g (see abo ve). O nly w hen these
prob le m s have bee n addressed w ill law en forc em en t be
ab le to con tribu te effect ively to su ch d iversio nary
prog ram m e s.
Fo llo w ing this lin e of thinking ,
drug courts have
beco m e a pop u lar altern ative in the U nited States. In
several w ays, drug cou rts rep resen t civil com m itm en t,
w hich w as practiced in the U nited S tates e arlier this
cen tury w ith u nfo rtu nate results as pro gra m m es
increasing ly ca m e to resem ble prison s. W hen d etain e es
are d iverted to treatm en t pro gr am m es, it is possib le
that the quality o f servic e provided m ig ht d eclin e as
clien tele is g uaranteed and , if the trea tm en t d oes not
w o rk for the patien t, the patien t go es incarce rated. N o
dru g co urt in the U nite d States con siders m eth ado ne
m ain ten ance a valid trea tm en t, no r d o they integ rate
harm red uctio n pro gr am m es into treatm en t pla ns.
D rug co urts also raise the spec tre of police arrestin g
ind ivid uals for crim es o therw ise ig nored (p ossessio n o f
syring es or o the r pa rap hernalia) and bu ild ing crim in al
rec ord s that d ecr ease the chance o f later em ploy m en t.
In m an y d rug co urts, su spects m ust plead g uilty to
have the o ption of dru g treatm en t a pro ba ble
vio latio n of due proce ss.
A s evid en ced by the pro po rtion o f U S an ti- drug
fu nding that go es to w ards la w e nfor cem en t (the
fed era l g overn m en t spe nds tw o -thirds of its $18 billion
dru g bu dg et on en forc em en t and states spen d at lea st
that m u ch) and the cou ntry s inab ility to pro per ly
m anage m eth ado ne m ain ten ance or pro vid e ad equ ate
su ppo rt fo r H IV preven tion m easu res am o ng drug
users, m uch o f U S effo rts to
redu ce the harm o f
dru gs in volv es m axim izing le ga l, social and m ed ica l
harm s w ith the g oa l o f d eter ring fu ture use. S uch
ze ro
toler ance policies tow ard s drug use in g en era l clea rly
have no t w orked for the U nited S tates, w hich
m ain tains the high est rates o f drug ad dic tion , drug -

related health prob le m s

ju stice ac tivity rec ord ed
circu m stances , it w ould
co untries to use the U S
co ntrol po licies.

and d ru g-r elated crim inal

in the w orld. In these
see m per verse for oth er
as a m o del for their dru g

C o n clu s io n

T he deb ate provok ed by Prim e M inister John

H ow ard s su gg estio n that ZT P success in N ew
York provid es les sons for Au stralia to learn in drug
policin g is severely m isinfor m ed. Firs t, the u se of
Z T P in N YC is irrele vant to the success or oth erw ise
of g en era l po lic ies of zero tolerance o f illeg al d rugs.
S econ d ly, the con trib utio n of ZT P to crim e red uctio ns
and im provem en ts o f qu ality of life in N ew York C ity
has been exagg era ted [ 2]. T hirdly, zero to lera nce drug
policin g m ay pro duce som e (p ro bab ly short-term )
ben efits , bu t these are likely to be at the co st o f very
su bstantial cou nter prod uctive e ffec ts. S pe cifical ly,
there is lik ely to be harm to public hea lth , com m unity
safety and police com m unity relation s. M or e broad ly,
Z T P threa ten s to und erm ine the ad vances pro m ised
by the shift tow ards harm m inim ization w hic h provide
the bes t pro spects fo r realistic , pragm atic drug
policy.
D ru g po licin g fac es d iffic ulties w hic h w ere fa m ilia r
in the po licin g of g am blin g tw o cen turies ag o:
the
inven tio ns of the sharpe rs are
sw ifter than the
punishm en t of the la w, w hich o nly hunts them fr om
on e d evic e to anoth er [ 46]. D ru g la w en fo rcem en t
has poten tial for pa rticular patho gen ic and crim ino g en ic costs. It is characteriz e d by w ave s of activ ity:
both the availab ility o f resources an d public o r m edia
pressure for actio n prod uce this patte rn of crack do w n
and bac k-o ff. S uch a pattern ap pears to be particu larly
pron e to unw elco m e sid e effect s. D rug m arket
partic ip ants ado pt risky practices in sto ring , transferring and adm in istering he roin . T he illeg al activ ity is
not su pp ressed , but the threat of interm itte nt la w
en force m e nt en cou rag es the d evelop m en t of a lev el of
or ga nizatio n that protects pa rticipants and increases
the poten tial for police cor ruption . G eo gr ap hica l,
socia l, substance and tem por al d ispla cem en t m ay
oc cur, and relation s betw een police and eth nic m inorities deter iora te .
L aw en fo rcem en t cannot successfu lly suppress
illeg al d rug use and sale. H o w ever, it m ay be able to
reg ulate, co ntrol and shape them [ 47] . A s D orn &
S outh su gg est, the
qu estion is, g ive n that w e ca nnot
totally preven t ille ga l d rug m arkets. . . w hat kind o f

H arm Reduction D igest 7

m arkets do w e leas t dislike , and how can w e adjust the
co ntrol m ix so as to push m arke ts in the lea st
und esired directio n?[4 8]. L aw en fo rcem en t certainly
has a role to play. In iden tify ing and fu lfillin g that role,
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T here is no ro om fo r zero tole rance here.
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