NCJ Number
72110
Date Published
1977
Length
123 pages
Annotation
The results of a study which assessed the attitudes of resident homeowners towards their police system in the Fourth Police District of Cleveland are presented in this dissertation.
Abstract
Based on the sociological identities of residents and their contacts with the police system, the study aimed to provide insights into the attitudes of specific groups and recommend how the police might better achieve their goal of crime reduction. Questionnaires were mailed to 480 randomly selected residents, and 351 completed and returned them. Using test-retest methodology, a reliability of 0.97 was established for the research instrument, which comprised 20 statement items. Response to these items were correlated with the sociological information supplied by the participants, and the results were tested for statistical significance. The study found that older residents had more favorable attitudes towards the police; females' attitudes were more favorable than those of males; the respondents' educational levels were not significantly related to their attitudes; nonwhite and minority group members had significantly less favorable attitudes towards the police than did white residents; family income was not related to the respondents' attitudes; and those who had more police contacts, regardless of the nature of these contacts, held significantly less favorable attitudes than those who had fewer contacts. The study recommends further research of this kind in other police districts of the city. The results are presented in tabular form. Footnotes and a bibliography are provided, and appendixes contain a copy of the questionnaire, the names of the experts who helped prepare the quesionnaire, the cover and followup letters sent to homeowners, and scoring data. (Author abstract modified)