NCJ Number
173167
Journal
Policing Volume: 21 Issue: 1 Dated: 1998 Pages: 8-21
Date Published
1998
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Based on a survey of Illinois chiefs of police, this study examined the extent to which police departments are already involved in suicide-related firearm disposal, as well as the correlates of police department involvement in this process.
Abstract
In August 1993, a nine-item survey was sent to 549 people included on a membership list supplied by the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police. After a single follow-up mailing, surveys were returned from 266 respondents from 259 valid jurisdictions. The 259 jurisdictions included in the final analysis consisted of 242 municipal police departments 10 college/university police departments, 6 county sheriff's departments, and 1 park district. This paper first describes the prevalence of recent (1992 calendar year) involvement in suicide- related firearm disposal. Next, it examines the correlates of involvement in this process by comparing departments with and without recent firearms turn-in experience. Particularly, the authors assess whether these two types of departments differ on existing policy with respect to the collection and disposal of firearms for the prevention of suicide. They also compare the departments with respect to respondent attitudes about the role of police departments in the disposal of weapons for the prevention of suicide. The paper concludes by presenting an example of a written firearm turn-in policy for suicide prevention devised by one police department in Illinois. It discusses the development of this policy and provides some evidence of its utility. 1 table and 16 references