NCJ Number
100404
Journal
Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 13 Issue: 4 Dated: (December 1985) Pages: 310-320
Date Published
1985
Length
11 pages
Annotation
A study of contacts made by a hospital's employees with its 18-member private security staff focused on the attitudes and characteristics of the staff members who made contacts either for law enforcement purposes or for general service.
Abstract
The hospital was 1 of 4 serving a southeastern city with a population over 250,000. The questionnaire survey received responses from 313 of the 450 randomly selected employees included in the initial sample. Over half the respondents were part of the nursing department; the others were either supporting services staff or administrative and professional staff. The questionnaire asked respondents about fear of crime in specific locations in the hospital, fears of specific criminal events, their rating of the hospital's security force, and their contacts with the security staff. About half the respondents had contacted the security staff for law enforcement purposes. About half had also contacted security for general service purposes. Staff members who used the security services were likely to fear both certain places and criminal events. The type of use of security was related to the type of department in which the respondent worked. Users of the security staff also rated the security staff highly. Footnotes and 53 references.