Spatial prejudice: a major factor in the \"Drug War\"

Dear Editor:

This article is an excellent summary of much I have read on the subject. An interesting addition would be a spatial analysis. Do police tend to focus more often on neighborhoods with more poor black residents because the inner city is thought to be the locus of many other crimes? In many more frequently- searched residences of these areas, they happen to find drugs and make an arrest. How much attention do they focus on the well-to-do suburbs, schools etc., where drug use among youth may, in fact, be higher? Part of the problem is a sort of spatial prejudice. Another part altogether is the practice in some areas of arresting people for small amounts of cannabis. It raises arrest statistics without making a serious contribution to the safety of the neighborhood, the real job of police.

Malcolm Greenshields