Operation Weed and Seed

Goals and Implementation

With the Weed and Seed strategy, enforcement is used first to “weed” out crime, violence, and gangs and to stabilize the conditions in high-crime communities; then resources are identified and mobilized to “seed” the revitalization of the communities. The long-term goal is for the communities to become resistant to future problems that would result in a return to high rates of crime. Rigorous required evaluations of programs provide detailed findings of their outcomes. Continued evaluation at the sites also is critical in assessing problems and unmet needs to sustain the community’s progress.

The major concepts are coordination, weeding, community policing, seeding, and safe havens. The strength of the established coordination among the community-based organizations and governmental decision makers is an important variable in the success of most of the sites. Weeding involves concentrated law enforcement activities to identify, arrest, and prosecute violent offenders, drug dealers and traffickers, and other offenders. The importance of involving the communities’ citizens early and giving them substantial voice is an important lesson from the first sites.

Community policing builds bridges between the weeding and seeding components and is particularly important in building community trust and encouraging citizen involvement. Dedicated officers assigned to the weed and seed target areas help improve the neighborhood environment by participating in such activities as neighborhood cleanups, graffiti eradication, and code enforcement. These officers also are important in engaging young people in activities and providing them with positive role models and improving communication between the residents and police. The weed and seed approach aims to mobilize residents to participate in local crime prevention with such activities as neighborhood watches and citizen advisory committees.

Seeding may be the greater challenge because it involves more participation and commitment from public and private sector organizations. Just as the weeding component operates more efficiently within established structures, many sites attempt to build their seeding programs by expanding existing resources. Community residents’ voices are integral to the success of seeding efforts. The requirement of safe havens—an accessible multiservice center for youth and adults to be safe from drug trafficking and other criminal activity, to obtain services, improve skills, and develop positive relationships—may increase the prevalence of intervention programs for the youth, such as afterschool programs, recreation and sports programs, job training, and health and substance abuse programs.

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