Research in Brief: Lessons Learned From an Evaluation of Cross-Border Task Force Efforts

Criminal activity, especially when related to drugs and violence, often crosses jurisdictional boundaries, and studies of strategies targeting these issues have shown that solutions involving interagency partnerships and collaboration are more effective than strategies that involve one agency working alone.1 In 2013, San Diego County, California, had a total of 20 cross-jurisdictional task forces with the shared goal of targeting drug trafficking and the violence that stemmed from such trafficking across the U.S.-Mexico border. The evaluation project, which was funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in cooperation with the San Diego County Sheriff?s Department and other partners, was conducted to better understand how these task forces operate, their short- and long-term benefits, and where opportunities for improvement may exist.