TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Opioids, race, and drug enforcement: exploring local relationships between neighborhood context and Black-White opioid-related possession arrests JO - Criminal justice policy review A1 - Donnelly, Ellen A. A1 - Wagner, Jascha A1 - Stenger, Madeline A1 - Cortina, Hannah G. A1 - O'Connell, Daniel J. A1 - Anderson, Tammy L. SP - 219 EP - 244 VL - 32 IS - 3 N2 - Opioid abuse has redefined drug problems in communities and shifted police activities to redress substance use. Changing neighborhood context around opioid issues may affect arrests and racial disparities in their imposition. This study presents a spatial analysis of arrests involving Blacks and Whites for possession of heroin, synthetic narcotics, and opium offenses. We identify the ecological conditions associated with opioid-related arrests using geographically weighted regression (GWR) methods that illuminate local patterns by allowing coefficients to vary across space. GWR models reveal spatial and racial differences in opioid-related possession arrest rates. Calls for police service for overdoses increase White arrests in more advantaged, rural communities. Economic disadvantage and racial diversity in neighborhoods more strongly elevate possession arrest rates among Blacks relative to Whites. Overdose calls predict Black arrests in poorer urban areas.

FINDINGS underscore police responsiveness to opioid problems and Black-White differences in how opioid users interact with the criminal justice system.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 0887-4034 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0887403420911415 ID - ref1 ER -