An Evaluation of Contemporary Methods Of Drug Mapping

This project is an evaluation of contemporary methods of drug mapping, which involves assessing contemporary qualitative methods used to map an illicit drug market. The central requirement of this project is to conduct a local level mapping exercise in Plymouth of the Class A market, focusing on the Heroin, Crack and Cocaine. The methodology of this research will be informed by existing drug mapping techniques with a view to improving the approach by focusing on key informants sampled through a snowballing technique and using a semi-structured Interview. From the results of this research it has been possible to assess the 'viewpoint' nature of drug market methodology. The decision to focus on drug mapping was a result of reading speaker's notes from the ACPO National Drug Conference (2004), where Special Agent Kyle Smith stated "If you always do, what you have always done, you'll always get what you've always got". Special Agent Smith was encouraging law enforcement agencies to challenge current thinking and push for more innovative ideas in drug mapping. As a result I became interested in analysing the methodologies used to achieve a valid description of the drugs market that could be used for enforcement purposes. Crucial to my current role as an intelligence analyst for Devon and Cornwall Constabulary is the ability to swiftly and accurately assess the nature and scale of a drug market. However, as I began to explore the area of drug mapping, I noticed that whilst there were many calls for maps, the actual number of mapping exercises were sparse and varied extensively in their methodology. Methods used range from ethnographic field studies, interviewing through to survey information such as the British Crime Survey. These techniques have limitations in terms of the speed of research and the scope of their findings. The aim of drug mapping is to provide an informative and evidence based picture of local drug markets for use in local law enforcement