DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02479.v1
title: Survey on Street Disorder in Large Municipalities in the United States, 1994-1996
title: Version 1

description: The objective of this survey was to provide city officials
 and police with information on how to carry out street disorder
 enforcement strategies within the constitutional guidelines
 established by the courts. To that end, a survey of 512 municipal
 police departments was conducted in the spring of 1996. The agencies
 were asked to supply data for the current year as well as for 1994 and
 1995. Information was collected on the existence of particular street
 disorder ordinances, when such ordinances were passed, the number of
 citations and arrests resulting from each ordinance, and whether the
 ordinances were challenged in court. Data covered the following types
 of street disorder: panhandling, open containers of alcohol, public
 intoxication, disorderly conduct, sleeping in public places,
 unregulated day labor solicitation, vending, dumpster diving, camping
 in public, and juvenile curfews. Departments were also asked about
 their written policies regarding certain types of street
 disorder. Other departmental information includes location, number of
personnel, and population of jurisdiction.
description: Street disorder is a growing topic of concern in
 many American cities. Police departments, mayors, city councils, and
 prosecutors are facing an increased demand for action on panhandling,
 graffiti, camping in urban parks, sidewalk interference, excessive
 noise, public urination, street drug and prostitution markets, and
 loitering. This renewed interest in an old set of problems stems, in
 part, from the ambitious efforts under way in virtually every major
 city to revitalize central business districts and older commercial
 strips. The introduction of community policing has also played a part
 in bringing attention to this issue. Once officers began to ask, they
 discovered that "low-level crimes" were very important to the
 residents, small business owners, office workers, shoppers, and
 tourists, who are the life blood of central cities. In addition,
 research over the past 20 years related to the now well-known "broken
 windows" theory has provided a firm intellectual foundation for
 increased attention to quality-of-life issues. Despite the widespread
 interest in street disorder, some cities have been hesitant to act
 aggressively in this area for fear of expensive lawsuits. To give
 local leaders guidance on how to carry out disorder enforcement
 strategies within the constitutional guidelines established by the
 courts, a survey of 512 municipal police departments was conducted in
 the spring of 1996. The agencies were asked to supply data for the
 current year as well as for 1994 and 1995. The project was designed to
 answer three questions: (1) Do the large municipalities have local
 ordinances on certain antisocial behaviors? (2) If so, how and to what
 extent are these ordinances enforced? (3) What are the factors that
affect enforcement?
description: To give local leaders guidance on how to carry out
 disorder enforcement strategies within the constitutional guidelines
 established by the courts, a survey of 512 municipal police
 departments was conducted. The Police Executive Research Forum
 (PERF), in conjunction with the Center for the Community Interest,
 mailed the questionnaire in the spring of 1996 to all 512 police
 departments in municipalities with populations of 50,000 or more in
 the United States. Most of the responding agencies provided comments
or sent copies of their ordinances.
description: Information was collected on the existence of
 particular street disorder ordinances, when such ordinances were
 passed, the number of citations and arrests resulting from each
 ordinance, and whether the ordinances were challenged in court. Data
 were collected on the following types of street disorder: panhandling,
 open containers of alcohol, public intoxication, disorderly conduct,
 sleeping in public places, unregulated day labor solicitation,
 vending, dumpster diving, camping in public, and juvenile curfews.
 Departments were also asked about their written policies regarding
 certain types of street disorder. Other departmental information
 includes location, number of personnel, and population of
jurisdiction.
description: Response Rates: The response rate was 76 percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: All 512 police departments in municipalities with
populations of 50,000 or more in the United States were sampled.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Survey on Street Disorder in Large Municipalities in the United States, 1994-1996
description: Police departments of large municipalities in the United
States.
description: A user guide, a codebook, and data collection
 instruments are provided 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 the Adobe Acrobat
 Reader. Information on how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is
provided through the ICPSR Website on the Internet.