DOI: 10.3886/icpsr06215.v1
title: Evaluation of the Impact of Innovative Policing Programs on Social Disorder in Seven Cities in the United States, 1983-1990
title: Version 1

description: This study was designed to permit a "meta-evaluation" of
 the impact of alternative policing programs on social disorder.
 Examples of social disorder include bands of teenagers deserting
 school and congregating on street corners, solicitation by prostitutes
 and panhandlers, public drinking, vandalism, verbal harassment of
 women on the street, street violence, and open gambling and drug
 use. The data used in this study were taken from studies conducted
 between 1983 and 1990 in seven cities. For this collection, a common
 set of questions was identified and recoded into a consistent format
 across studies. The studies were conducted using similar sampling and
 interviewing procedures, and in almost every case used a
 quasi-experimental research design. For each target area studied, a
 different, matched area was designated as a comparison area where no
 new policing programs were begun. Surveys of residents were conducted
 in the target and comparison areas before the programs began (Wave I)
 and again after they had been in operation for a period ranging from
 ten months to two-and-a-half years (Wave II). The data contain
 information regarding police visibility and contact, encounters with
 police, victimization, fear and worry about crime, household
 protection and personal precautions, neighborhood conditions and
 problems, and demographic characteristics of respondents including
 race, marital status, employment status, education, sex, age, and
 income. The policing methods researched included community-oriented
policing and traditional intensive enforcement programs.
description: This study was designed to permit a
 "meta-evaluation" of the impact of alternative policing programs on
 social disorder. Examples of social disorder include bands of
 teenagers deserting school and congregating on street corners,
 solicitation by prostitutes and panhandlers, public drinking,
 vandalism, verbal harassment of women on the street, street violence,
 and open gambling and drug use. The policing methods researched
 included community-oriented policing and traditional intensive
enforcement programs.
description: The data used in this study were taken from
 surveys conducted between 1983 and 1990 in seven cities. For this
 collection, a common set of questions was identified and recoded into
 a consistent format across studies. The studies were conducted using
 similar sampling and interviewing procedures, and in almost every case
 used a quasi-experimental research design. For each target area
 studied, a different, matched area was designated as a comparison area
 where no new policing programs were begun. Surveys of residents were
 conducted in the target and comparison areas before the programs began
 (Wave I) and again after they had been in operation for a period
ranging from ten months to two-and-a-half years (Wave II).
description: Survey respondents were asked questions regarding
 police visibility and contact, encounters with police, victimization,
 fear and worry about crime, household protection and personal
 precautions, and neighborhood conditions and problems. Demographic
 information was collected including race, marital status, employment
 status, education, sex, age, and income. In some cities, not all the
 variables were available. Variables in the dataset that begin with a
 "Z" represent responses to Wave II questions, while the other
variables are from Wave I.
description: Response Rates: The percentages of individuals reinterviewed in
 each of the seven original studies are as follows. Houston: 57
 percent, Newark: 48 percent, Baltimore: 70 percent, Madison: 62
 percent, Birmingham: 76 percent, Oakland: 64 percent, and Denver: 80
percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Responses to the survey questions were primarily
recorded using dichotomous and Likert-type scales.
description: The original studies used random sampling.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Main Data File
DS2: SAS Data Definition Statements
DS3: User Guide
description: Residents aged 19 years and older in the cities of
 Houston, TX, Newark, NJ, Baltimore, MD, Madison, WI, Birmingham, AL,
Oakland, CA, and Denver, CO.
description: Many of the variables in this dataset have a high
 proportion of missing data. This is primarily because not all
 questions were asked in each of the original studies. The original
 studies on which this data collection is based include REDUCING FEAR
 OF CRIME: PROGRAM EVALUATION SURVEYS IN NEWARK AND HOUSTON, 1983-1984
 (ICPSR 8496), COMMUNITY POLICING IN BALTIMORE, 1986-1987 (ICPSR 9401),
 and MODERN POLICING AND THE CONTROL OF ILLEGAL DRUGS: TESTING NEW
 STRATEGIES IN OAKLAND, CA, AND BIRMINGHAM, AL, 1987-1989 (ICPSR 9962),
 and two other studies expected to be acquired by ICPSR: "Quality
 Policing in Madison: An Evaluation of Its Implementation and Impact,"
 conducted by Mary Ann Wycoff and Wesley G. Skogan, and "Drug
 Enforcement in Public Housing: Signs of Success in Denver," conducted
by Sampson Annan and Wesley G. Skogan.