Evaluation of the Impact of Innovative Policing Programs on Social Disorder in Seven Cities in the United States, 1983-1990 (ICPSR 6215)

Version Date: Nov 4, 2005 View help for published

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s)
Wesley G. Skogan, Northwestern University, Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06215.v1

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This study was designed to permit a "meta-evaluation" of the impact of alternative policing programs on social disorder. Examples of social disorder include bands of teenagers deserting school and congregating on street corners, solicitation by prostitutes and panhandlers, public drinking, vandalism, verbal harassment of women on the street, street violence, and open gambling and drug use. The data used in this study were taken from studies conducted between 1983 and 1990 in seven cities. For this collection, a common set of questions was identified and recoded into a consistent format across studies. The studies were conducted using similar sampling and interviewing procedures, and in almost every case used a quasi-experimental research design. For each target area studied, a different, matched area was designated as a comparison area where no new policing programs were begun. Surveys of residents were conducted in the target and comparison areas before the programs began (Wave I) and again after they had been in operation for a period ranging from ten months to two-and-a-half years (Wave II). The data contain information regarding police visibility and contact, encounters with police, victimization, fear and worry about crime, household protection and personal precautions, neighborhood conditions and problems, and demographic characteristics of respondents including race, marital status, employment status, education, sex, age, and income. The policing methods researched included community-oriented policing and traditional intensive enforcement programs.

Skogan, Wesley G. Evaluation of the Impact of Innovative Policing Programs on Social Disorder in Seven Cities in the United States, 1983-1990. [distributor], 2005-11-04. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06215.v1

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United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (92-IJ-CX-0008)
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1983 -- 1990
1983 -- 1990
  1. Many of the variables in this dataset have a high proportion of missing data. This is primarily because not all questions were asked in each of the original studies. The original studies on which this data collection is based include REDUCING FEAR OF CRIME: PROGRAM EVALUATION SURVEYS IN NEWARK AND HOUSTON, 1983-1984 (ICPSR 8496), COMMUNITY POLICING IN BALTIMORE, 1986-1987 (ICPSR 9401), and MODERN POLICING AND THE CONTROL OF ILLEGAL DRUGS: TESTING NEW STRATEGIES IN OAKLAND, CA, AND BIRMINGHAM, AL, 1987-1989 (ICPSR 9962), and two other studies expected to be acquired by ICPSR: "Quality Policing in Madison: An Evaluation of Its Implementation and Impact," conducted by Mary Ann Wycoff and Wesley G. Skogan, and "Drug Enforcement in Public Housing: Signs of Success in Denver," conducted by Sampson Annan and Wesley G. Skogan.

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This study was designed to permit a "meta-evaluation" of the impact of alternative policing programs on social disorder. Examples of social disorder include bands of teenagers deserting school and congregating on street corners, solicitation by prostitutes and panhandlers, public drinking, vandalism, verbal harassment of women on the street, street violence, and open gambling and drug use. The policing methods researched included community-oriented policing and traditional intensive enforcement programs.

The data used in this study were taken from surveys conducted between 1983 and 1990 in seven cities. For this collection, a common set of questions was identified and recoded into a consistent format across studies. The studies were conducted using similar sampling and interviewing procedures, and in almost every case used a quasi-experimental research design. For each target area studied, a different, matched area was designated as a comparison area where no new policing programs were begun. Surveys of residents were conducted in the target and comparison areas before the programs began (Wave I) and again after they had been in operation for a period ranging from ten months to two-and-a-half years (Wave II).

The original studies used random sampling.

Residents aged 19 years and older in the cities of Houston, TX, Newark, NJ, Baltimore, MD, Madison, WI, Birmingham, AL, Oakland, CA, and Denver, CO.

Individuals.

personal interviews and telephone interviews

Survey respondents were asked questions regarding police visibility and contact, encounters with police, victimization, fear and worry about crime, household protection and personal precautions, and neighborhood conditions and problems. Demographic information was collected including race, marital status, employment status, education, sex, age, and income. In some cities, not all the variables were available. Variables in the dataset that begin with a "Z" represent responses to Wave II questions, while the other variables are from Wave I.

The percentages of individuals reinterviewed in each of the seven original studies are as follows. Houston: 57 percent, Newark: 48 percent, Baltimore: 70 percent, Madison: 62 percent, Birmingham: 76 percent, Oakland: 64 percent, and Denver: 80 percent.

Responses to the survey questions were primarily recorded using dichotomous and Likert-type scales.

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1994-05-20

2018-02-15 The citation of this study may have changed due to the new version control system that has been implemented. The previous citation was:
  • Skogan, Wesley G. EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT OF INNOVATIVE POLICING PROGRAMS ON SOCIAL DISORDER IN SEVEN CITIES IN THE UNITED STATES, 1983-1990. Evanston, IL: Wesley G. Skogan [producer], 1993. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 1994. http://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR06215.v1

2005-11-04 On 2005-03-14 new files were added to one or more datasets. These files included additional setup files as well as one or more of the following: SAS program, SAS transport, SPSS portable, and Stata system files. The metadata record was revised 2005-11-04 to reflect these additions.

1994-05-20 ICPSR data undergo a confidentiality review and are altered when necessary to limit the risk of disclosure. ICPSR also routinely creates ready-to-go data files along with setups in the major statistical software formats as well as standard codebooks to accompany the data. In addition to these procedures, ICPSR performed the following processing steps for this data collection:

  • Standardized missing values.
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Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

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This dataset is maintained and distributed by the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD), the criminal justice archive within ICPSR. NACJD is primarily sponsored by three agencies within the U.S. Department of Justice: the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.