NCJ Number
71110
Date Published
1980
Length
275 pages
Annotation
This report identifies problems and patterns in reporting noncrime incidents to the police and considers citizen satisfaction with police response time.
Abstract
The data were collected in Kansas City, Mo., between March 1975 and January 1976 as part of a study to evaluate the role of police response time in all types of calls for police service. Complete data were available for less than 20 percent of the 5,793 noncrime calls for service. The data collection process was divided into three basic components analogous to the three response time intervals: reporting time, dispatch time, and travel time. Civilian observers riding with patrol officers collected travel time data, descriptions of activities on the scene, and the identities of persons who reported incidents. Analysts collected dispatch time data from tape recordings which were made in the department's communications unit. Interviewers obtained information on citizen reporting times, expectations and perceptions of police service, and actions taken or problems encountered by citizens in reporting the incidents. About 35 percent of the noncrime calls were classified within the crime control function and involved prowlers or suspicious activities; 35 percent were peace maintenance calls; and 10 percent were social service calls. The average reporting time was greater than both the dispatch and travel times combined. Reporting delays resulted from citizens' choosing to telephone or talk to another person before contacting the police, from observing the situation, or from being unsure whether the police could or would help in a particular situation. Although incidents with an injury had, on the average, shorter reporting, dispatch, and travel times, none of the three intervals' lengths had any apparent effect on the length of a victim's stay in a hospital. Citizen satisfaction with police response time was more closely associated with citizens' expectations and perceptions about response time than with actual response time. Also, citizens were more likely to be dissatisfied if they thought faster responses could have made differences in the outcomes of incidents. Figures, data tables, a glossary, and appendixes containing tables with summary statistics are included. For related documents, see NCJ 46852, 47076-77, and 71108-09. (Author abstract modified)