William Garriott, associate professor of law, politics, and society at Drake University, is author of a nonfiction book that studies the effect of anti-methamphetamine policing and legislating on rural communities.
Garriott drew on his subject matter for a recent interview with The Washington Post. In an article about policing of drug laws, Garriott added context to a section that explains how law enforcement officers use contrasting approaches to crack down on users of meth, marijuana, crack cocaine, and other illegal substances.
Garriott said rural and small-town operations have less resources than big-city policing outfits; but as with the wars on marijuana and crack cocaine, officers have relied on arresting high numbers of low-level meth users in hopes of garnering more information about dealers and suppliers.
In his research and teaching, Garriott focuses on the relationship between law, crime, and criminal justice, with specific interest in drugs, addiction, policing, and governance. He is the author of Policing Methamphetamine: Narcopolitics in Rural America as well as editor of the volumes Policing and Contemporary Governance: The Anthropology of Police in Practice and (with Eugene Raikhel) Addiction Trajectories. He currently serves as co-editor (with Heath Cabot) of the journal PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review.
Professor Garriott teaches courses in the core LPS curriculum, including Introduction to Law, Politics, and Society; Critical Concepts in Law, Politics, and Society; and Senior Seminar. Additionally, he offers courses covering topics such as drugs, crime, punishment, and the state.