NCJ Number
60283
Date Published
1977
Length
37 pages
Annotation
THIS SUGGESTION FOR AN EVALUATION PROJECT REVIEWS TRANSIT POLICING OPERATIONS AND THE NEED TO EVALUATE THESE ACTIVITIES, LISTS DATA ELEMENTS REQUIRED, SUGGESTS FIVE RESEARCH DESIGNS, AND PRESENTS A HYPOTHETICAL CASE STUDY.
Abstract
PREVIOUS RESEARCH HAS SUGGESTED THAT URBAN MASS TRANSIT SYSTEMS NEED TO DEVELOP AND EVALUATE PROJECTS DIRECTED TOWARD CONTROLLING JUVENILE CRIME, TO IMPROVE THE COORDINATION OF ELECTRONIC SECURITY EQUIPMENT WITH OTHER SECURITY MEASURES, TO DECREASE THE VULNERABILITY OF AUTOMATIC COIN-CHANGE AND TICKET VENDING MACHINES, AND TO IMPROVE FIRE DETECTION AND PREVENTION. THE FIRST STEP IN EVALUATING THESE POLICING MEASURES IS DATA COLLECTION. DIFFERENT TRANSIT POLICE UNITS USE DIFFERENT CLASSIFICATION SCHEMES FOR CRIMES, COMPLICATING COMPARISONS BETWEEN SYSTEMS. UNIFORM CRIME REPORTING WOULD STANDARDIZE DEFINITIONS AND PROVIDE A MEANINGFUL DATA BASE. A HANDBOOK FOR MEASURING PASSENGER PERCEPTIONS OF CRIME IS ALSO NEEDED FOR EVALUATION RESEARCH. DATA NOT GENERALLY RECORDED INCLUDED OFFENDER CHARACTERISTICS, VICTIM CHARACTERISTICS, AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS, ALL OF WHICH WOULD IMPROVE EVALUATION. THE MOST COMMONLY USED RESEARCH DESIGNS ARE ONE-GROUP, PRETEST-POSTTEST DESIGNS, NONEQUIVALENT CONTROL GROUP DESIGN, TIME SERIES, MULTIPLE-TIME SERIES, AND A SERIES OF STATISTICAL ANALYSES TECHNIQUES. AN INTENSIVE CASE STUDY OF THE WASHINGTON, D.C., METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY (RAPID RAIL SYSTEM) IS RECOMMENDED AS A POSSIBLE PHASE II STUDY UNDER THE NATIONAL EVALUATION PROGRAM OF NILECJ. A 2-YEAR STUDY COSTING ABOUT $250,000 IS DESIGNED. TABULAR DATA AND A BIBLIOGRAPHY ARE PROVIDED.