What does this measure?
The number of felony and misdemeanor drug arrests per 1,000 residents.
Why is this important?
Drug use, sale and other illegal drug-related activity can have immediate as well as long-term negative health, social and economic consequences, both for individuals and for neighborhoods and communities.
How is our county doing?
In Essex County, over 600 people were arrested for drug-related crimes in 2019 - a rate of about 0.8 arrests per 1,000 residents. This is slightly lower than the statewide figure of 0.9. Salisbury and Salem (both at 2.3), Haverhill (2.0) and Methuen (1.8) had the highest rates in Essex County in 2019. The rate of arrests for drug-related crimes has been declining since the peak in 2007 of 2.0.
How do we compare to similar counties?
Essex County had a higher rate compared to Middlesex, MA at .60, however was much lower than Westchester, NY whose rate was 2.4 and Lake County, IL at 1.9.
Notes about the data
Comparable national data was not available. The City of Lawrence does not report comparable data. Comparable data for Lake, IL was not available for 2017. Differences in rates may reflect a variety of factors, including differences in laws and law enforcement priorities, in addition the severity of drug activity in an area.