NCJ Number
97150
Date Published
Unknown
Length
16 pages
Annotation
Using Nebraska Uniform Crime Reports data for 1982-83, the Nebraska Crime Commission examined the incidence of assaults on law enforcement officers, the charges filed in these cases, the use of plea bargaining, and the sentences dispensed upon conviction.
Abstract
Data show that 747, or 19 percent of Nebraska's 3,878 sworn officers, were assaulted in 1982-83. Each category of charge for these assaults -- felony, misdemeanor, or no complaint -- was followed through prosecution to final disposition. Agencies requested misdemeanor charges in 75 percent of the assaults, due largely to the high number of misdemeanors filed in the Omaha Police Division, which also had low penalty averages for assault and/or resisting arrest convictions. In the felony assaults requested, 8 percent were requested as Felony II, 14 percent as Felony III, 64 percent as Felony IV (felony statute), and 13 percent as Felony IV (misdemeanor statute). Law enforcement agencies did not request charges to be filed on only 21 (5 percent) of the assaults reported. Known plea bargaining was used in 48 (11 percent) of the total misdemeanor and felony charges filed and was used more extensively in felony than in misdemeanor charges. In sentencing, probation was not used as often as fine or jail penalties. In most instances, harsher dispositions were given for each higher degree of assault. The commission recommends stronger support of already existing assault-on-law-enforcement-officer statutes in the belief that assaults on police officers will decrease in number when the public knows such an assault is a separate, punishable offense. Relevant Nebraska statutes and study data are appended.