Tools for Combating Meth

Tools for Combating Meth contains practical guidebooks that address issues such as clandestine drug labs, drug dealing in open-air markets and privately owned apartment complexes and identity theft. Other publications included in the toolkit address the environmental dangers involved in meth production and provide best practices for combating meth based on previous COPS funded meth programs.

Each publication can be downloaded here, or requested from the COPS Office Response Center by email or telephone at 1.800.421.6770.

An Evaluation of the COPS Office Methamphetamine Initiative
This COPS-funded evaluation conducted by the Institute for Law and Justice and 21st Century Solutions evaluates COPS' first six methamphetamine grants. The COPS Office provided funding to six agencies (Phoenix, AZ; Salt Lake City, UT; Dallas, TX; Oklahoma City, OK; Little Rock, AR; Minneapolis, MN) to combat the production, distribution, and use of meth. This evaluation focuses on the histories of the meth problems in these cities and includes detailed process evaluations of each grant's implementation. This report provides insight into the ways in which these agencies responded to their meth problems and should be of great interest to those dealing with similar drug problems in their jurisdictions.

Annotated Bibliography on Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs
This document, developed by Circle Solutions, Inc., is a comprehensive publication of clandestine laboratories and methamphetamine (meth) resources. The resources are divided into nine categories: 1. Effects of exposure on children; 2. Environmental impacts; 3. Impact of exposure on users; 4. Law enforcement training; 5. Legislative responses; 6. Manufacturing, use, and trafficking of meth; 7. Meth detection; 8. Toxins produced by clandestine drug labs; and 9. Other resources.

Clandestine Methamphetamine Labs, 2nd Edition
This problem-oriented guide for police addresses the problem of clandestine drug labs. Offenders manufacture a variety of illicit drugs in such labs with methamphetamine accounting for 80 to 90 percent of the labs total drug production. Accordingly, the problem of clandestine drug labs is closely tied with the problems associated with methamphetamine abuse. This guide is an essential tool for law enforcement to help analyze and develop responses to their local clandestine methamphetamine lab problem (2nd Edition).

Combating Methamphetamine Laboratories and Abuse: Strategies for Success
The COPS Office began funding state and local law enforcement agencies to combat the production, distribution, and use of methamphetamine in 1998. COPS methamphetamine grants encourage law enforcement agencies to use advanced technologies and creative problem-solving strategies to implement resourceful solutions to persistent crime and disorder problems. This publication provides a brief summary of the findings of the national evaluation of six COPS methamphetamine grantees and suggests ways that agencies can better deal with their own methamphetamine problems.

Drug Dealing in Open-Air Markets
Open-air markets represent the lowest level of the drug distribution network. Low-level markets need to be tackled effectively to reduce the harms that illicit drug use can inflict on the local community. This guide describes the problem and reviews the factors that increase the risks of drug dealing in open-air markets. The guide then identifies a series of questions that might assist agencies in analyzing their local problem and reviews responses to the problem and what is known about these from evaluative research and police practice.

Drug Dealing in Privately Owned Apartment Complexes
This problem-oriented guide for police focuses on drug dealing in privately owned apartment complexes. It clearly distinguishes between open- and closed-drug markets, provides information on what is known about each market type, and offers questions to ask when analyzing each market. It also proposes various responses designed to closed-drug markets and provides a full range of problem-specific measures to determine the effectiveness of those responses.

Drugs & Crime CD-ROM
This CD-ROM contains more than 140 COPS Office, U.S. Department of Justice, and other federal agency publications and resources related to drugs and crime, including information on club drugs, cocaine, crack, marijuana, methamphetamine, and crime-fighting policy and research.

Methamphetamine Initiative Final Environmental Assessment
This report assesses the impact on the environment of grant policies under the COPS Methamphetamine Initiative, which encompasses funding for the dismantling of clandestine methamphetamine labs and the associated cleanup of hazardous materials involved in methamphetamine manufacture.

Identity Theft
Identity theft is a relatively new crime, facilitated through established, underlying crimes such as forgery, counterfeiting, check and credit card fraud, computer fraud, impersonation, pick pocketing, and even terrorism. This guide describes the problem of identity theft and reviews factors that increase the risks of it. It is intended to help law enforcement analyze and develop effective responses to their local problem.

Prescription Fraud
Prescription fraud is a significantly growing problem for many law enforcement agencies. This problem-oriented guide for police begins by describing the problem of prescription fraud and reviewing factors that contribute to it. It also identifies a series of questions that might assist agencies in analyzing their local problem. Finally, it reviews responses to the problem and what is known about these from evaluative research and police practice.