NCJ Number
37686
Date Published
1976
Length
81 pages
Annotation
THIS STUDY SUGGESTS THAT POLICE RESPONSE TIMES ARE NOT AS CRUCIAL A FACTOR IN CITIZEN SATISFACTION AS HAD BEEN THOUGHT - MUCH MORE IMPORTANT ARE CITIZEN EXPECTATIONS OF POLICE RESPONSE TIME.
Abstract
THE IMPLICATION OF THIS FINDING IS PARADOXICAL IN THAT PUBLICITY GENERATED BY POLICE DEPARTMENTS TO INFORM CITIZENS OF POLICE EFFECTIVENESS (AND THUS TO INCREASE CITIZEN SATISFACTION) MAY HAVE THE OPPOSITE OF THE INTENDED EFFECT. IF CITIZENS ARE LED TO BELIEVE THAT THE POLICE RESPONSE WILL TAKE A CERTAIN TIME, AND THEN IT ACTUALLY DOES TAKE THAT AMOUNT OF TIME, THEY WILL BE MORE SATISFIED THAN IF THE RESPONSE TIME WAS ACTUALLY LESS, ALTHOUGH LONGER THAN EXPECTED. ALSO, ANY PRESSURE ON OFFICERS TO RESPOND IMMEDIATELY TO ALL CALLS COULD NEGATIVELY AFFECT THE OFFICERS' BEHAVIOR BY DEPRIVING THEM OF AN AREA OF DISCRETION AND MAKING THEM UNWILLING TO INITIATE SOME OF THE TIME-CONSUMING CONTACTS WITH CITIZENS WHICH ALSO PROMOTE GOOD POLICE-COMMUNITY RELATIONS. THIS STUDY ALSO FOUND THAT THE TWO VARIABLES MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR RESPONSE TIMES WERE THE DISTANCE THE OFFICER MUST TRAVEL AND THE TIME DELAY BEFORE THE OFFICER STARTS TO THE SCENE OF THE INCIDENT, AND NOT THE TRAVELING SPEED OF THE OFFICER. DATA FOR THIS STUDY, OBTAINED FROM THE KANSAS CITY PREVENTIVE PATROL EXPERIMENT, SUGGEST THAT IT MAY BE WORTHWHILE FOR POLICE DEPARTMENTS TO PLAY A LARGER ROLE IN FORMING REALISTIC CITIZEN EXPECTATIONS OF RESPONSE TIME BECAUSE FURTHER POLICE EFFORTS TO REDUCE RESPONSE TIME COULD BE COSTLY, AND THE BENEFITS MIGHT ONLY BE MARGINAL. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED) (SNI ABSTRACT)