Policing drugs in rural Scotland: an exploration of policing practices at the intersection between environmental demands, resource challenges and technological development.

• In Event: Drugs, crime and criminal justice

Abstract

Rural areas have historically been associated with remoteness and difficult access, which when presented in the context of drug markets, have been described as areas with little drug trafficking. Nonetheless, emerging research is pointing out that remote areas in Scotland are experiencing an unexpectedly high volume of incoming drug parcels. Although we are now starting to learn more about the drug market, there is very little research out there on the factors that have led to such changes in recent years.

In this presentation I will bridge this knowledge gap by discussing how parcels containing illicit substances are policed in mainland and island communities in Scotland. I will be discussing the picture of current drug markets through the perspective of policing of drugs, and thus outline the current practices and narratives that Police Scotland hold in relation to crime in rural areas. I will also be discussing policing challenges and opportunities while providing an answer to questions around the ways in which police interventions shape drug access and drug supply in rural areas of Scotland.

Author

• Oana Petcu, University of Glasgow & University of Edinburgh