THIS EVALUATION TESTED THE THEORY THAT (A) IMPLEMENTATION OF THIS CRIME PREVENTION PROGRAM IN ILLINOIS OR IN SEVERAL OF ITS COMMUNITIES WOULD (B) REDUCE THE KINDS OF CRIME THE PROGRAM WAS DESIGNED TO PREVENT.
THE EMPIRICAL RESEARCH METHODS USED TO INVESTIGATE (A) CONSISTED OF, IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF THE STATE, ON-SITE INTERVIEWS WITH PERSONS INVOLVED IN THE PROGRAM AND, IN THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE STATE, QUESTIONNAIRES MAILED TO IMPLEMENTERS, DESIGNED TO COLLECT INFORMATION ABOUT SUPPORTERS AND PARTICIPANTS. BOTH THE INTERVIEW SCHEDULES AND THE MAILED QUESTIONNAIRES WERE DESIGNED TO COLLECT DATA ON ALL THE MAJOR AND MOST SALIENT FEATURES OF OPERATION IDENTIFICATION. ON THE BASIS OF THESE DATA, A VARIETY OF DETAILED COMPARISONS WERE MADE BETWEEN CATEGORIES OF PERSONS, GROUPS, AND PLACES. RESEARCH FINDINGS LED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT (A) HAD A MINIMAL EXISTENCE. THE PRAGMATIC RESEARCH MEASURES USED TO DETERMINE (B) CONSISTED OF OFFICIAL CRIME STATISTICS AND CENSUS DATA TO TRACE TRENDS OVER TIME IN PARTICIPATING AND NON-PARTICIPATING COMMUNITIES, SUPPLEMENTED BY SOME CONSTRUCTED, HYPOTHETICAL PERFORMANCE MEASURES. ON THE BASIS OF THESE MEASURES, A VARIETY OF COMPARISONS WERE MADE BETWEEN CATEGORIES OF COMMUNITIES AND TRENDS OVER TIME. FINDINGS LED TO THE CONCLUSION THAT (B) HAD NOT RESULTED. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE ONLY GENERAL CONCLUSION THAT CAN BE DRAWN FROM THIS EVALUATION IS THAT OPERATION IDENTIFICATION, AS IMPLEMENTED IN ILLINOIS, DID NOT REDUCE THE KINDS OF CRIME IT WAS DESIGNED TO REDUCE. APPENDED MATERIALS INCLUDE COPIES OF THE INTERVIEW SCHEDULE AND THE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)...ELW