NCJ Number
142125
Date Published
1992
Length
149 pages
Annotation
A survey of 491 police agencies in the United States revealed that about one-third of the agencies had formal planning and research units and that the national research agenda of police agencies was large and remarkably diverse. Data set archived by the NIJ Data Resources Program at the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data, located at URL http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/nacjd.
Abstract
In addition, about one-third of the agencies believed that they had conducted a research project of potential national interest. Moreover, 4 months prior to the Rodney King incident, 65 percent of United States police agencies were involved in revising their policies regarding the sue of force. Within the past year, more than two-thirds of the agencies had conducted a library or literature search, more than half conducted a study that used a survey or questionnaire, and about one-fourth did research that used an experimental design. Results also revealed that few police agencies subscribe to journals that report academic research on police and that consultation with other police agencies is the research method most often used. More than one-fourth of the agencies use college or university resources often and 63.3 percent use them sometimes, a frequency higher than that with which they report using the FBI National Academy, the Southern Police Institute, the Police Executive Research Forum, the Police Foundation, or any other national police organization. Analysis of the survey and site visits to 12 police agencies suggest that police researchers can be grouped into four polar types: proactive producers, proactive consumers, reactive producers, and reactive consumers. Tables and appended survey instrument and list of agencies surveyed (Author abstract modified)