NCJ Number
131744
Date Published
1990
Length
308 pages
Annotation
The impact of the presence of policemen in the community -- a study carried out in 1986-88 under the umbrella of the Department of Criminology of the Universidad de los Andes in Merida -- has been observed in several neighborhoods of different socioeconomic levels in a Venezuelan town.
Abstract
The authors discovered that there was a stronger tendency to rely on police assistance when difficult situations took place in open or public places and in less affluent neighborhoods. Appropriate questionnaires were used to record the reactions of the inhabitants of the different neighborhoods to the presence of the policemen as well as the variety of situations the policemen had to deal with in different neighborhoods, from drunk and disorderly behavior in less affluent areas to teenage speeding in wealthier areas. Conclusions indicate that there must be cooperation and interaction between police and community and that a police presence is needed most in less affluent urban neighborhoods. 58 references