PRODUCTIVITY OF DETECTIVES - A STUDY OF THE INVESTIGATIVE FUNCTION OF POLICE JUVENILE UNITS

• NCJ Number: 58209
• Journal: Journal of Police Science and Administration Volume: 7 Issue: 2 Dated: (JUNE 1979) Pages: 138-154
• Author(s): B D GLICK; L J RICCIO
• Date Published: 1979
• Length: 17 pages
• Grant Number(s): 77-NI-99-0002
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Justice
• Corporate Author: International Assoc of Chiefs of Police
• Sale Source: International Assoc of Chiefs of Police
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: WRITE PUBLISHER FOR PRICE

Annotation

FOCUSING ON THE INVESTIGATIVE FUNCTION OF POLICE JUVENILE UNITS IN CALIFORNIA AND NORTH CAROLINA, THIS STUDY GAUGES BOTH THE PRODUCTIVITY OF JUVENILE UNIT DETECTIVES AND THE ACCURACY OF CASE FILE REVIEWS AS A PRODUCTIVITY MEASURE.

Abstract

POLICE INVESTIGATIVE ACTIVITIES FOR CRIMES INVOLVING JUVENILE OFFENDERS WERE EXAMINED IN GREENSBORO, N.C. AND TORRANCE, CALIF. A RANDOM SAMPLE OF CASES CLEARED IN 1976 WAS TAKEN IN EACH CITY--174 IN GREENSBORO AND 201 IN TORRANCE. A CASE FILE REVIEW WAS PERFORMED ON ALL POLICE REPORTS CONTAINED IN THE FILE FOLDERS OF THE SAMPLED CASES. A CONTENT ANALYSIS WAS DONE ON EACH TO DETERMINE WHAT USEFUL CASE-RELATED INFORMATION WAS BEING GENERATED BY WHICH OFFICERS. THE CONTENT ANALYSIS WAS PERFORMED USING A SPECIALLY DESIGNED CASE FILE REVIEW INSTRUMENT (CFRI). CFRI IS A LIST OF INFORMATION BITS THAT, IF KNOWN, COULD POTENTIALLY ASSIST IN CASE OR DISPOSITION; IT DISTINGUISHES BETWEEN INFORMATION COLLECTED BY PATROL OFFICERS, DETECTIVES, JUVENILE OFFICERS, AND OTHERS, AND HAS THE ADDED DIMENSION OF RECOGNIZING IF INFORMATION CONTAINED IN A REPORT IS RECORDED FOR THE FIRST TIME OR IF IT HAS BEEN PREVIOUSLY COLLECTED. IN GREENSBORO, IT WAS ANTICIPATED THAT PATROL REPORTS WOULD DOMINATE THE NONJUVENILE UNIT INPUT. AS EXPECTED, PATROL REPORTS ACCOUNTED FOR 94.8 PERCENT OF THE NONJUVENILE UNIT REPORTS. IN TORRANCE, AS EXPECTED, JUVENILE OFFICERS WHOSE PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITY WAS DISPOSITION CONTRIBUTED THE LEAST TO THE PRODUCTION OF INFORMATION, WITH DETECTIVES CONTRIBUTING ON AVERAGE, TWICE AS MUCH AS THE JUVENILE OFFICERS. ALSO, AS EXPECTED, THE DETECTIVES IN GREENSBORO PERFORMED LITTLE MORE THAN A PASS-THROUGH FUNCTION, CONTRIBUTING VIRTUALLY NO NEW INFORMATION AND ALMOST NO REPEAT OR VERIFIED INFORMATION. A VERY INTERESTING RESULT OF THESE DATA IS THAT PATROL UNITS IN BOTH CITIES COLLECTED VERY LARGE AND SIMILAR AMOUNTS OF NEW INFORMATION. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT THE DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF THE CFRI HAS PROVIDED A CLEAR WAY OF VIEWING THE INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS AND EVALUATING THE RELATIVE CONTRIBUTIONS DIFFERENT POLICE UNITS MAKE TO CASE INVESTIGATIONS. TABULAR AND GRAPHIC DATA ARE INCLUDED. (KBL)