NCJ Number
86445
Date Published
1981
Length
261 pages
Annotation
This research examines the relationship between certain organizational variables of a random sample of police departments and their effect on police performance, as measured by the FBI's Total Crime Index.
Abstract
It hypothesizes that variations in levels of crime rates between municipalities are due not only to environmental factors but also to the importance of organizational variables, such as police training, education, degree of departmental specialization, relative police size, relative size of the investigative division, and degree of departmental 'civilianization.' The study analyzed data using standardized multivariate regression techniques in a recursive path analysis, and a two-stage least squares techniques in a nonrecursive analysis. Results generally indicate that crime is not largely determined by socioeconomic and/or demographic factors as prior studies have indicated. Certain organizational or 'manpower quality' variables do make a difference in the crime rate. Two-stage least squares or some other nonrecursive technique must be used in order to accurately assess the reciprocal relationship between relative police manpower and crime levels in a given jurisdiction. Implications for policymakers in the field of police delivery systems are discussed, and suggestions for future research are given. Results of the recursive and nonrecursive models are illustrated, and over 100 references are appended. (Author abstract modified)