NCJ Number
77692
Date Published
1981
Length
70 pages
Annotation
This survey investigated the attitudes of Florida residents in the Dade/Miami and other areas regarding the impact of the reassignment of 100 highway patrol officers to the Dade/Miami area.
Abstract
Telephone interviews were conducted with persons whose names were selected from telephone books; however, no attempt was made to obtain a statistically representative statewide sample, and women and the elderly were found to be somewhat overrepresented. Among the more important findings were that more Miami/Dade respondents (54 percent) felt unsafe at night than respondents from other urban (26 percent) or rural (27 percent) areas. The Miami/Dade respondents had slightly less confidence in police performance (78 percent thought it was good/average) than either the urban or rural respondents. Furthermore, 74 percent of all respondents felt that State officials were concerned about local crime; and 86 percent were aware of the patrol officer reassignment. Fifty-four percent of the total sample believed that the reassignment had a positive effect on Miami's crime prevention situation. Almost all Miami/Dade respondents who perceived a change in the level of protection rated the change as positive. In addition, 71 percent of all respondents believed that the control of local crime should be a shared responsibility between State and local governments. Ninety percent felt the State should have specialized law enforcement manpower to assist local agencies in times of need, and 75 percent of the sample supported an increase in State taxes to provide additional funds for law enforcement. Finally, 20.5 percent of Miami/Dade respondents stated that they had been victims of a crime in the past year, compared to 14.9 percent of those in other urban areas and 10.5 percent of those in rural areas. The reasons for the police transfer are not discussed. Data tables are included, and the survey instrument is appended.