RT Article
T1 Symbolic policing: situating targeted police operations/‘crackdowns’ on street-level drug markets
JF Policing and society
VO 29
IS 1
SP 1
OP 17
A1 Coomber, Ross
A2 Moyle, Leah
A2 Mahoney, Myesa Knox
LA English
YR 2019
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1795334789
AB The policing of local drug markets in England often takes the form of specific, high-profile, crackdown operations which themselves are mostly a generic, periodic response to particular criminality. Drawing on Innes’ (2004) concept of ‘control signals’ and Edelman’s (1985) notion of ‘symbolic policy’, we argue that ‘symbolic policing’ relates to activity that is principally about achieving symbolic aims - ‘being seen to be doing something’ rather than preventing or solving crime. This article, focusing on police crackdown operations on heroin and crack cocaine ‘dealers’ in three English urban areas, considers the meanings of such operations, how they work, and in relation to local suppliers suggests they may in fact have counterproductive enforcement outcomes whilst still achieving symbolic objectives. It is concluded that generic crackdown operations at the level of local drug markets are unhelpfully insensitive to local conditions and that, in certain circumstances, they can be antithetical to more considered enforcement and public health aims.
K1 Symbolic policing
K1 community policing
K1 Crack
K1 Crackdown operations
K1 Drug dealers
K1 Drug markets
K1 Heroin
K1 Signal crimes
DO 10.1080/10439463.2017.1323893