NCJ Number
61570
Date Published
1979
Length
54 pages
Annotation
MUNICIPAL AND STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES WERE SURVEYED IN 1977 CONCERNING THEIR EXPERIENCES AND ATTITUDES TOWARD PATROL CARS, WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS ON COMPACT VEHICLES.
Abstract
WITH THE 1973 OIL CRISIS AND SUBSEQUENT RISE IN OPERATING EXPENSES, IT WAS EXPECTED THAT LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES WOULD BEGIN USING MORE COMPACT PATROL VEHICLES. UNDER LEAA FUNDING, THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE MAILED A QUESTIONNAIRE CONCERNING THE SUCCESS OR FAILURE OF COMPACT CARS TO 101 OF THE LARGEST CITIES AND COUNTIES AND TO 49 STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES. THE SUBSEQUENT ANALYSIS OF THE DATA WAS BASED ON AN 82 PERCENT RETURN RATE FOR STATE AGENCIES AND 72 PERCENT FOR MUNICIPAL AGENCIES. ALL CAR MODELS USED BY POLICE ARE LISTED UNDER COMPACT, INTERMEDIATE, AND FULL-SIZE CATEGORIES. THE SURVEY DATA INDICATED THAT THE INCORPORATION OF COMPACT VEHICLES HAS OCCURRED PRIMARILY IN CITY/COUNTY DEPARTMENTS RATHER THAN AT THE STATE LEVEL. MOST POLICE VEHICLES IN 1977 WERE INTERMEDIATE-SIZE CARS AS COMPARED TO 1972 WHEN MOST HAD BEEN FULL-SIZE CARS. INITIAL AND OPERATING COSTS OF THE COMPACTS WERE SIMILAR TO THOSE OF OTHER SIZE PATROL CARS. VARIATION IN MILEAGE BETWEEN COMPACTS AND LARGER VEHICLES WAS RARE. POWER DEMANDING OPTIONS, SUCH AS POWER STEERING AND AIR CONDITIONING, HAD INCREASED SINCE 1972, WITH COMPACTS DEMONSTRATING BETTER HANDLING AND ACCELERATION TO COMPENSATE FOR SPACE AND COMFORT LIMITATIONS. ALL DEPARTMENTS INTERVIEWED AGREED THAT THE COMPACT WAS ONE OF MANY VEHICLES NECESSARY FOR POLICE FUNCTIONS, AND MANY ADMITTED THAT THE DOWNSIZING OF CARS MIGHT MAKE THEM SHIFT FROM COMPACTS TO INTERMEDIATE SIZES. APPENDIXES CONTAIN A LIST OF AGENCY PERSONNEL WHO REVIEWED THE QUESTIONNAIRE, THE SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE, CHARTS ON PATROL OPERATIONS AND PATROL VEHICLE DATA, AND MISCELLANEOUS COMPILATIONS AND ANALYSES DERIVED FROM THE SURVEY. (MJM)