Police Roadblocks to Decriminalization - A Multiple-Time-Series Analysis of Law Enforcement's Response to Changes in Public Drunkenness Statutes (From First National Conference on Criminal Justice Evaluation - Selected Papers, P 31-44, 1981, Joel H Garner and Victoria Jaycox, ed. - See NCJ-82918)

• NCJ Number: 82919
• Author(s): C T Dienes; D E Aaronson; M C Musheno
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 22 pages
• Grant Number(s): 74-NI-99-0055
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Available on Microfiche as NCJ-82918

Annotation

The impact of the decriminalization of public drunkenness on related police performance is examined for Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis, Minn.

Abstract

The study hypothesized a statistically significant decline in the number of public inebriates formally handled by the police in the manner designated by the law which specifies that inebriates are the focus of public health services rather than criminal sanctions. Monthly public drunkenness arrest rates were collected prior to decriminalization, and monthly rates of police deliveries to detoxification facilities were collected for a period after decriminalization. The available monthly arrest data were also collected for two control cities where decriminalization has not been implemented: Houston, Tex. (a high arrest jurisdiction) and San Francisco, Calif. (a moderate arrest jurisdiction). The multiple time-series analysis does confirm a statistically significant decline in the number of public inebriates formally handled by the police in the manner designated by the decriminalization law. This finding raises doubts about the use of police to implement decriminalization policy; however, the comparative analysis does not necessarily produce the conclusion that more public inebriates are being left on the street since decriminalization. As revealed in the microanalyses of the experimental jurisdictions, special amleriorative administrative action by the public health community (e.g., the use of the civilian intake van and the encouragement of self-admissions) does compensate for reduced police attention. It was also found, however, that in a jurisdiction that expects the streets to be kept clear of public inebriates, the police may find other criminal dispositions (e.g., the use of disorderly). Tabular and graphic data and 42 notes are provided.