NCJ Number
68119
Journal
Urban Affairs Quarterly Volume: 15 Issue: 3 Dated: (MARCH 1980) Pages: 317-334
Date Published
1980
Length
18 pages
Annotation
THE 1972 ST. LOUIS STUDY FOUND A MODERATELY STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN RESIDENCY OF POLICE OFFICERS IN THE AREA THEY SERVED AND CLEARANCE OF LESSER OFFENSES IN THAT AREA.
Abstract
A TOTAL OF 712 POLICE OFFICERS AND 4.065 CITIZENS IN THE ST. LOUIS METROPOLITAN AREA WERE SURVEYED TO FIND IF THERE WAS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE PROPORTION OF A DEPARTMENT'S PERSONNEL RESIDING IN THE JURISDICTION AND THE DEPARTMENT'S PERFORMANCE. DATA FROM A SURVEY OF CITIZENS' EVALUATIONS OF POLICE SERVING THEIR NEIGHBORHOODS, AS WELL AS CRIME AND CLEARANCE DATA WERE USED TO MEASURE POLICE PERFORMANCE. IT WAS FOUND THAT RESIDENCY WAS NOT RELATED TO THE RATE OF CRIME REPORTED TO THE POLICE, BUT A MODERATELY STRONG CORRELATION BETWEEN RESIDENCY AND CLEARANCE OF LESSER OFFENSES WAS ESTABLISHED. SINCE THE LESSER OFFENCES, SUCH AS DRUNKENNESS, VANDALISM, ETC. TEND TO BE COMMITTED BY LOCAL RESIDENTS, THE POLICE OFFICERS' RESIDENCY IN THE AREA THEY SERVED PRODUCED GREATER KNOWLEDGE OF THAT AREA AND THE SUBSEQUENT HIGHER RATE OF CLEARANCE OF THOSE CRIMES. THE FACT THAT RESIDENCY LEVEL IN A DEPARTMENT WAS MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO ATTITUDES THAN WAS AN INDIVIDUAL'S RESIDENCY STATUS SUGGESTED THAT KNOWLEDGE OF THE COMMUNITY SERVED, WHICH COULD BE A CUMULATIVE FUNCTION OF THE GROUP OF OFFICERS, MIGHT BE AN INTERVENING FACTOR BETWEEN RESIDENCY AND PERFORMANCE. THIS STUDY DID NOT INCLUDE INSTANCES OF MANDATORY POLICE RESIDENCY, WHICH LIMITED THE GENERALIZABILITY OF THE FINDINGS. MORE RESEARCH IS NEEDED TO ESTABLISH THE NATURE OF THE LINK BETWEEN RESIDENCY AND POLICE PERFORMANCE. TABLES AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED.