National Assessment Program: 1994 Survey Results, Research in Brief

• NCJ Number: 150856
• Author(s): T McEwen
• Date Published: April 1995
• Length: 86 pages
• Publication Series: NIJ Research in Brief
• Grant Number(s): OJP-92-C-005
• Agencies: NIJ
• Publication Type: Survey

Annotation

This document contains the results of the 1994 National Assessment Program (NAP) survey of more than 2,500 directors of criminal justice agencies. Individuals surveyed were asked for their views on the impact on society of violence, drugs, firearms, and troubled youth; the needs of their agencies; and programs and strategies that might be effective in addressing these issues.

Abstract

Respondents to the 1994 NAP survey repeatedly expressed concern about young people, both as victims and offenders. Use of firearms in crimes committed by juveniles and adults was another problem cited by many respondents. Alcohol abuse and illegal drug abuse continued to clog the criminal justice system with offenders. Criminal justice agencies face many other problems and needs identified in the survey and discussed in this report: (1) How can police better respond to an increasingly culturally diverse society? (2) To what degree are today's jails and prisons crowded? (3) What kinds of programs have police departments established for at-risk youths? (4) How are criminal justice agencies responding to mentally ill offenders? (5) What kinds of information systems should agencies establish to support their activities? Footnotes, exhibits