NCJ Number
153848
Date Published
1995
Length
25 pages
Annotation
A new national survey of police chiefs from around the Nation discredits the repeated assertion that the death penalty is an important law enforcement tool.
Abstract
In January 1995, Peter D. Hart Research Associates conducted a national opinion poll of randomly selected police chiefs in the United States. In that poll, the chiefs had the opportunity to express what they believe works in fighting crime. They were asked where the death penalty fits in their priorities as leaders in the law enforcement field. Based on their responses, the police chiefs rank the death penalty last as a way of reducing violent crime. The death penalty was rated as the least cost- effective method for controlling crime. Insufficient use of the death penalty is not considered a major problem by the majority of police chiefs. Strengthening families and neighborhoods, punishing criminals swiftly and surely, controlling illegal drugs, and gun control are considered more important than the death penalty. Although a majority of the police chiefs support the death penalty in the abstract, when given a choice between the sentence of life with parole plus restitution versus the death penalty, barely half of the chiefs support capital punishment. Police chiefs do not believe that the death penalty significantly reduces the number of homicides, and they do not believe that murderers think about the range of possible punishments. Chiefs also believe that debates about the death penalty distract Congress and State legislatures from focusing on real solutions to crime. 42 references and 5 figures