Pennsylvania Police Accreditation Evaluation

• NCJ Number: 221264
• Author(s): John Krimmel; Donna Kochis; Paul Lindenmuth; Peter Morreale
• Date Published: October 2004
• Length: 298 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2001/2002-DS-19-12999
• Sponsoring Agency: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Sale Source: Pennsylvania Cmssn on Crime and Delinquency
• Publication Format: Document (Online)
• Publication Type: Program/Project Evaluation
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Appendix A - http://www.pccd.state.pa.us/pccd/lib/pccd/stats/completedprojectdocs/asof2004/appendixa_papoliceaccreditationevalforweb.pdf Appendix B http://www.pccd.state.pa.us/pccd/lib/pccd/stats/completedprojectdocs/asof2004/appendixb_papoliceaccreditationevalforweb.pdf Appendix C - http://www.pccd.state.pa.us/pccd/lib/pccd/stats/completedprojectdocs/asof2004/appendixc_papoliceaccreditationevalforweb.pdf Downloaded on January 21, 2008.

Annotation

This evaluative study assesses the impact of the Pennsylvania Police Accreditation Program, specifically the police accreditation process on police performance, police-community relations, changes in public perceptions, and other challenges to ordinary police procedures.

Abstract

This multifaceted evaluation of the Pennsylvania Police Accreditation Program employees a quasi-experimental design where performance indicators within the newly accredited police agencies are compared with comparison municipalities and jurisdictions. It is a five-stage program evaluation that entails the police accreditation process, Pennsylvania police chief attitudes towards State accreditation, job satisfaction, community satisfaction, and crime analysis. In chapter 2, a two-pronged approach, quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, was used to assess the degree of difficulty involved in accreditation. The objective was to demystify the accreditation process for police chiefs. In chapter 3, the results of a multi-jurisdictional police chief survey are presented. Seven hundred and fifty police chiefs were mailed questionnaires. The objective was to capture the police chiefs’ attitudes toward agency accreditation. A number of police chiefs responded that they believed the process was too time consuming or too expensive. Many also reported that they had never received any information about accreditation. Those police chiefs who developed the accreditation concept thought that police officers would be happier and more satisfied in an accredited agency than those working in a non-accredited one. Chapter 4 illuminates the results of job-satisfaction surveys to each of the participating police agencies. In chapter 5, a citizen-police satisfaction survey mailed to random residents and a comparison group indicated that statistical differences existed on a number of police performance variables when responses were compared on each program site with a corresponding comparison group. In chapter 6, a time series analysis is used to measure the impact of the accreditation intervention. In most municipalities, a drop in both part 1 and part 2 crimes were realized after the inception of the accreditation. Appendixes A-C