DOI: 10.3886/icpsr07427.v1
title: Decision-Related Research on the Organization of Service Delivery Systems in Metropolitan Areas: Police Protection
title: Version 1

description: This study represents one of four research projects on
service delivery systems in metropolitan areas, covering fire
protection (DECISION-RELATED RESEARCH ON THE ORGANIZATION OF SERVICE
DELIVERY SYSTEMS IN METROPOLITAN AREAS: FIRE PROTECTION [ICPSR 7409]),
public health (DECISION-RELATED RESEARCH ON THE ORGANIZATION OF
SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEMS IN METROPOLITAN AREAS: PUBLIC HEALTH [ICPSR
7374]), solid waste management (DECISION-RELATED RESEARCH ON THE
ORGANIZATION OF SERVICE DELIVERY SYSTEMS IN METROPOLITAN AREAS: SOLID
WASTE MANAGEMENT [ICPSR 7487]), and police protection (the present
study). All four projects used a common unit of analysis, namely all
200 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas (SMSAs) that, according
to the 1970 Census, had a population of less than 1,500,000 and were
entirely located within a single state. In each project, a limited
amount of information was collected for all 200 SMSAs. More extensive
data were gathered within independently drawn samples of these SMSAs,
for all local geographical units and each administrative jurisdiction
or agency in the service delivery areas. Two standardized systems of
geocoding -- the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) codes
and the Office of Revenue Sharing (ORS) codes -- were used, so that
data from various sources could be combined. The use of these two
coding schemes also allows users to combine data from two or more of
the research projects conducted in conjunction with the present one,
or to add data from a wide variety of public data files. The present
study used five major clusters of variables to investigate the
delivery of police services: service conditions, the legal structure,
organizational arrangements, manpower levels, and expenditure
levels. Information about specific services such as patrol, traffic
control, criminal investigation, radio communications, adult pre-trial
detention, entry-level training, and crime laboratory analysis was
collected at the local jurisdiction level in a random sample of 80
SMSAs. Part 1 summarizes in matrix form the relationships between all
consumers and producers for each type of service in a given SMSA. Part
2 provides data about 1,885 consuming units, or service areas, defined
as mutually exclusive geographical divisions of each SMSA that received
police services. Part 3 contains information for 1,761 police
agencies, defined as service producers, with functions and duties
that may overlap several jurisdictions.
description: A subsample of 80 SMSAs was randomly chosen from the total
of 200 SMSAs that qualified for inclusion in the universe.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Services
DS2: Consumers
DS3: Producers
description: Police services providers in metropolitan areas with
populations of less than 1,500,000 and located entirely within one
state.
description: The questionnaire is provided by ICPSR as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using PDF reader software, such as Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided on the ICPSR Web site.