Objectives: The current study
contributes to the literature through a systematic social observation of the
defensive actions of drug sellers within open-air retail markets. The study
expands upon previous literature by incorporating a novel data collection and
coding method.
Methods: Video footage of
narcotics transactions was extracted from the closed-circuit television (CCTV)
system of the Newark, NJ Police Department. Researchers transcribed and coded
the footage to measure the frequency of defensive actions incorporated by drug
sellers. Fisher’s exact tests measured whether the frequency of each defensive
action significantly differed across geographic setting or time of day.
Results: The frequency of many
defensive actions was significantly related to geographic setting and time of
day. The strongest relationship was observed between the use of stash spots and
setting. Overall, the findings suggest that drug sellers adopt tenets of
Opportunity Theory to protect themselves from law enforcement, specifically by
acting as guardians and place managers on their own behalf.
Conclusions: This study
extends prior techniques and provides an additional case study on the use of
CCTV footage in the study of street-level crime. This methodology can be used
in concert with more traditional ethnographic techniques in the study of the
drug trade and in crime-and-place research in general.
Purchase full article at: http://goo.gl/tnYZFG
By:
Eric L. Piza, Department of Law and Police Science, John Jay
College of Criminal Justice, New York City, NY, USA. Email: epiza@jjay.cuny.edu
More at: https://twitter.com/hiv
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