Zero Drug Deals in ‘Weed and Seed’ Area
The number of reported incidents of drug dealing dropped to zero in a high-crime section of the city during a recent six-month period, according to a report expected to be released today.
The Cal State Fullerton study was commissioned by the city of Santa Ana to measure the effect of the city’s Weed and Seed site.
Weed and Seed is a national program launched by the U.S. Justice Department to “weed out” criminal elements within problem areas and then “seed” those same areas with social programs.
The report measured the crime statistics and attitudes of residents within one part of the Weed and Seed site, bounded by McFadden Avenue on the north, Edinger Avenue on the South, Fairview Street on the west and Raitt Street on the east.
Researcher Gregory Robinson attributed the dramatic drop in narcotics reports to police emphasis on that area of crime.
But Robinson and co-researcher Jill Rosenbaum found little change in the reported number of assaults and auto thefts in the same six-month period, from December 1996 to June 1997.
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