NCJ Number
75346
Date Published
1980
Length
79 pages
Annotation
This report presents the findings of a 1980 survey of 155 police officers in the Investigative and Uniform Patrol Division of the Portsmouth (Va.) Police Department and of an evaluation of the operations of the department's Crime Analysis Unit (CAU).
Abstract
The survey's goal was to determine police officers' perceptions of the performance of the CAU, and to ascertain the flow, frequency, and type of communication between police officers and CAU personnel. Both the survey and the evaluation indicate that the CAU is performing in an effective manner. A total of 99 percent of the officers responding to the survey rate the CAU's performance positively. Most (95 percent) are familiar with the types of information the CAU can provide. Most of the officers (85 percent) contact CAU for information, but not very frequently. The requested information was provided by the CAU in 55 percent of the cases, although it was not always provided soon enough to meet the officer's needs. The evaluation findings indicate that the system files are fully developed and that effective intradepartment relationships have been implemented. No unnecessary files or paper flow were identified in the evaluation. Although the CAU is rated highly, officer's responses to open-ended questions suggest that the link between crime analysis and directed patrol should be improved, that additional suspect information would be helpful to many officers, and that contact between CAU personnel and members of the department should be increased. Officer responses to open-ended questions are presented in-depth. A total of 20 tables are included. Crime Analysis Memo forms and the Crime Analysis Survey are appended.