NCJ Number
62626
Date Published
1977
Length
83 pages
Annotation
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS DESIGNED TO DETERMINE FACTORS STATISTICALLY RELATED TO CRIME AND THE PERFORMANCE OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE AGENCIES IN GEORGIA IS PRESENTED, IN ORDER TO AID GOVERNMENT AND AGENCY PLANNING.
Abstract
CORRELATION ANALYSIS WAS USED TO DETERMINE STATISTICAL RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CRIME AND SOCIOECONOMIC FACTORS, DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS, LAW ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT EFFECTIVENESS, AND BETWEEN AGENCY EFFECTIVENESS AND RESOURCE AVAILABILITY. THE SEVERAL DOZEN VARIABLES USED INCLUDED POPULATION, AGE, RACE, INCOME, UNEMPLOYMENT RATE, LAW ENFORCEMENT BUDGET, GEOGRAPHIC AREA, PROSECUTION BUDGET, COURT BUDGET, ARREST RATE, CLEARANCE RATE, INDEX CRIMES, AND MANY OTHERS. DATA WAS COLLECTED FROM STATE AND FEDERAL DATA SOURCES. RESULTS SHOWED THAT EACH CRIME RATE, EXCEPT HOMICIDE, IS POSITIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH POPULATION, POPULATION DENSITY, AND INCOME. IN CONTRAST, THE HOMICIDE RATE HAD WEAK POSITIVE CORRELATIONS WITH THE BLACK PERCENTAGE OF POPULATION, THE PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION ON FOOD STAMPS, AND UNEMPLOYMENT. CRIME RATES WERE POSITIVELY RELATED TO RESOURCES, INDICATING THAT URBAN AREAS HAVE HIGHER CRIME RATES AND REQUIRE HIGHER LAW ENFORCEMENT EXPENDITURES THAN LESS DENSELY POPULATED AREAS. BASED ON THE LIMITED AND NONREPRESENTATIVE DATA AVAILABLE, NO RELATIONSHIP WAS FOUND BETWEEN LAW ENFORCEMENT RESOURCES AND AGENCY PERFORMANCE RATES. WEAK OR NONEXISTENT CORRELATIONS WERE FOUND AMONG SOME OF THE OTHER PERFORMANCE VARIABLES, BUT DATA PROBLEMS PREVENTED ACHIEVING CONCLUSIVE RESULTS. DATA AND DATA COLLECTION METHODS NEEDED FOR PROPER STATISTICAL ANALYSIS ARE DESCRIBED IN DETAIL. FOOTNOTES AND AN APPENDIX PRESENTING EXTENSIVE TABLES SHOWING STUDY RESULTS ARE PROVIDED. (CFW)