The Impact of Drug-Related Law Enforcement Activity on Serious Violence and Homicide

The UK Home Office commissioned RAND Europe to systematically review the global literature in English, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese on the impact of drug-related law enforcement activity on serious violence and homicide between 2011 and 2024. The research was commissioned to inform work the Home Office and other government departments undertook to implement the most recent Drugs Strategy 'From Harm to Hope: a 10-year drugs plan to cut crime and save lives', published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government (HM Government, 2021). Part of the Drugs Strategy related to stepping up the level of law enforcement on illicit drug-related activity.

This review addresses the following research question in the global literature: What is the impact of drug-related law enforcement activity on serious violence and homicide?

To explore this question, we examined 5 sub-questions:

1. Are certain types of drug-related law enforcement activity effective in reducing serious violence and homicide?
2. What aspects of drug-related law enforcement activity make them more/less likely to be effective in reducing serious violence and homicide
3. Do certain types of drug-related law enforcement activity have unintended consequences, such as worsening adverse serious violence and homicide outcomes?
4. When drug-related law enforcement activity generates adverse serious violence and homicide outcomes, what are the factors that lead to these unintended consequences?
5. How do serious violence and homicide outcomes relating to drug-related law enforcement activity differ by country and local areas, and why?