From Zero Tolerance to Non-Enforcement: Creating a New Space for Drug Policing in Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

The neighborhood of Vesterbro in Copenhagen has housed the largest open drug scene in Denmark since the 1980s. In recent years there has been a remarkable change in the police strategy towards this drug scene from zero tolerance to a non-enforcement strategy. This article presents a case study of this change in strategy and its implications for more general discussions about drug control and harm reduction. With inspiration from the governmentality literature, in particular how government involves the construction of governable spaces, and police research that emphasizes the territorial aspects of policing, the article seeks to characterize the difference between the two drug control strategies at Vesterbro. The analysis is based on original research and secondary literature. The article concludes that the non-enforcement strategy opens up the drug scene to new kinds of intervention by police and social welfare institutions, and that it changes the relationship between social welfare provision and policing.