NCJ Number
186510
Journal
Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 28 Issue: 6 Dated: November/December 2000 Pages: 543-556
Editor(s)
Kent B. Joscelyn
Date Published
2000
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The authors studied the effect of membership in a multi-jurisdictional drug law enforcement task force on levels of drug law enforcement outputs and perceptions of effectiveness by comparing law enforcement agencies in Ohio which participated in drug task forces to law enforcement agencies which did not participate.
Abstract
Data were obtained from three sources--survey of law enforcement agencies in Ohio, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Bureau of Census--as part of a larger evaluation of the organization and effectiveness of Ohio's multi-jurisdictional task forces. Logistic regression analysis indicated the main independent variable of the research, task force membership, was statistically significant. Task force members reported communicating with other criminal justice agencies more times over a 6-month period than non-task force agencies. Further, task force membership was significantly related to ratings of the quality of drug cases. Task force membership was not a significant predictor of total drug arrests or arrests for the sale of drugs. Population heterogeneity of the jurisdiction was the only significant predictor of drug arrests. The authors conclude task force membership impacts perceptions but does not appear to influence objective measures of drug law enforcement outputs. 57 references, 7 notes, and 5 tables