NCJ Number
225059
Date Published
1967
Length
302 pages
Annotation
This volume reports on two empirical studies of crime and law enforcement in major metropolitan areas, with one addressing patterns of behavior in police and citizen transactions and the second focusing on police career orientations, job satisfaction, and the assessment of law enforcement problems by police officers.
Abstract
The findings of the study of the patterns of behavior in police and citizen transactions pertain to four areas in such interactions. One set of findings stems from an analysis of data on the racial and social-class distribution of citizen participants in police encounters according to the means by which the police are mobilized. A second set of findings involves the general demeanor and emotional states of citizens when they have dealings with the police, the general manner and signs of prejudice by police officers when they encounter citizens, and the relationship between citizen and police behavior in face-to-face encounters. A third set of findings addresses police-suspect interactions according to the race and social class of suspects as well as the type of police mobilization. A fourth set of findings focuses on police officers’ attitudes toward African-Americans, with attention to the officer’s race and the racial composition of the officer’s assigned precinct. This study involved 7 weeks of observations of police-citizen encounters in selected precincts in Boston, Chicago, and Washington, DC, in the summer of 1966. The second study, which was also conducted in selected precincts of Boston, Chicago, and Washington, DC, consisted of interviews with samples of police officers regarding career orientation and morale; satisfaction with job and assignment; perceptions of police-community relations; police relations with local government and the legal system; and perceptions of problems in law enforcement and police relations with the justice system. 72 tables and appended survey questionnaire on police attitudes