Zero Tolerance drug program wins award

Worcester, Mass. — An innovative program that focuses the efforts of police and eight other city departments on driving drug houses out of local neighborhoods has won the city a 1996 Better Government award from the Boston-based Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research. “Zero Tolerance of Drug Houses” involves a combination of stringent law enforcement, code inspections and neighborhood infrastructure improvements to shut down houses that have been the sites of known drug activity.

An “aftercare” program involving heightened police presence and neighborhood awareness helps ensure the program’s effectiveness.

The program, headed by City Manager Thomas Hoover, was implemented in January 1995 and so far has resulted in the shutdown of at least 34 drug houses in 17 targeted zones.

Upon completion of the program, Zero Tolerance zones have shown a sharp decline in drug-related arrests, suggesting that, once eliminated, drug activity is unlikely to return.

The initial program cost was $350,000, all of it coming from the existing budgets of participating city departments.

“This is a program that works,” Hoover says. “It is the result of a strong partnership between neighborhood representatives and municipal departments.”

For additional information, contact Keith Hood at (508) 799-1161.