NCJ Number
84792
Journal
Urban Interest Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1982) Pages: 17-26
Date Published
1982
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Citizen surveys have been employed in police performance assessments, but are currently undergoing criticism that faults their reliability for this purpose.
Abstract
The available evidence with respect to citizens' capacities to accurately recall their experiences with crime and the police and to perceive the police services they receive is not conclusive. Therefore, additional research is needed regarding experiences, perceptions, and recall capacity before such survey results can be used to influence policy decisions. Nevertheless, the user perspective as revealed through citizen surveys should remain an important component of more complex, multisourced performance measurement and comparison systems. As indicated from prior experience with citizen surveys, citizen concern for the quality of service delivery and their awareness of the many aspects of police work are important and constitute the 'investment' theory of citizen information regarding issues which are important to them. Footnotes and 30 references are given.