DOI: 10.3886/icpsr09977
title: Evaluation of the Maricopa County [Arizona] Demand Reduction Program, 1989-1991
title: Archival Version

description: These data were collected to evaluate the Demand Reduction
 Program, a program initiated in Maricopa County, Arizona, in 1989 to
 combat drug abuse. A consortium of municipal, county, state, and
 federal law enforcement agencies developed the program, which stressed
 user accountability. The Demand Reduction Program had two objectives:
 (1) to create community-wide awareness of the severity of the drug
 problem and to alert drug users to the increased risk of legal
 sanctions, and (2) to adopt a zero-tolerance position of user
 accountability through an emphasis on increased and coordinated law
 enforcement activities directed against individual offenders and
 special treatment programs in lieu of prosecution. Part 1 of the
 collection, Demand Reduction Program Data, provides information on
 prosecutor's disposition, arrest date, submitted charges, filed
 charges, prior charges, disposition of charges, drugs offender used in
 last three months, information on prior drug treatment, type of
 attorney, and arrestee's age at arrest, sex, marital status, income,
 and living arrangement. Part 2 is a Citizen Survey conducted in
 January 1990, ten months after the implementation of the Demand
 Reduction Program. Adult residents of Maricopa County were asked in
 telephone interviews about their attitudes toward drug use, tax
 support for drug treatment, education, and punishment, their knowledge
 of the Demand Reduction Program, and demographic information. Parts 3
 and 4 supply data from surveys of Maricopa County police officers,
 conducted in March 1990 and April 1991, to measure attitudes regarding
 the Demand Reduction Program with respect to (1) police effort, (2)
 inter-agency cooperation, (3) the harm involved in drug use, and (4)
 support for diversion to treatment. The two police surveys contained
 identically-worded questions, with only a small number of different
 questions asked the second year. Variables include officer's rank,
 years at rank, years in department, shift worked, age, sex, ethnicity,
 education, marital status, if officer was the primary or secondary
 wage earner, officer's perception of and training for the Demand
 Reduction Program, and personal attitudes toward drug use. Part 5
 provides arrest data from the Maricopa County Task Force, which
 arrested drug users through two methods: (1) sweeps of public and
 semi-public places, and (2) "reversals," where drug sellers were
 arrested and replaced by police officers posing as drug sellers, who
 then arrested the drug buyers. Task Force data include arrest date,
 operation number, operation beginning and ending date, operation type,
 region where operation was conducted, charge resulting from arrest,
 Demand Reduction Program identification number, and arrestee's sex,
race, and date of birth.
description: A consortium of municipal, county, state, and
 federal law enforcement agencies located in Maricopa County, Arizona,
 initiated the Maricopa County Demand Reduction Program in March 1989.
 The Demand Reduction Program was characterized by five features: (1) a
 comprehensive program integrating education, law enforcement, and
 treatment into a unified campaign against casual drug use, (2) the
 complete participation of all law enforcement agencies within the
 scope of the Demand Reduction Program, (3) a high level of community
 support, including local media and private sector donations of time,
 equipment, and materials for the program's advertising campaign, (4)
 tough laws which classified any illicit drug use as a felony, and (5)
 revenues generated from fees collected from offenders who entered the
 diversionary treatment program, based on the type of drug and the
 offender's ability to pay. A major goal of the Demand Reduction
 Program was to educate the general population and private sector
 employers about the harmfulness of drug use and to stress that those
 who used drugs would be held legally accountable. Another goal was to
 focus on the arrest, prosecution, and possible diversionary treatment
 of drug offenders. As a general rule, diversion to treatment was
 offered only to casual users with no prior criminal history. Eligible
individuals could refuse to enter the treatment program.
description: Data were compiled from four sources: (1) Arrest
 data from the Demand Reduction Program. (2) Arrest data from the
 Maricopa County Task Force, which arrested drug users through sweeps
 of public and semi-public places, and through "reversals," where
 drug sellers were arrested and replaced by police officers posing as
 drug sellers, who then arrested the drug buyers. Task Force operations
 occurred at a rate of more than one a month and were geographically
 dispersed. On two occasions, the Task Force served warrants on
 outstanding cases, leading to 31 arrests. During the study's time
 period, the Task Force conducted 38 operations, producing a total of
 730 arrests. (3) Adult residents of Maricopa County were surveyed to
 determine their attitudes toward drug use and to assess how their
 attitudes coincided with the philosophy, procedures, and goals of the
 Demand Reduction Program. The Citizen Survey was conducted in January
 1990, ten months after the implementation of the Demand Reduction
 Program. A total of 393 adult residents of Maricopa County were asked
 about their attitudes toward drug use, tax support for drug treatment,
 education, and punishment, their knowledge of the Demand Reduction
 Program, and demographic information. (4) Approximately one year after
 the program's implementation, in March 1990, Maricopa County police
 officers were surveyed to gauge their perceptions of their training
 for the Demand Reduction Program and the amount of police effort and
 cooperation involved as well as their personal attitudes concerning
 drug use and their support for the program. The survey of police
 officers was repeated 13 months later, in April 1991. The two police
 surveys were identical except for two variables in the second survey
 concerning participation in the first survey. A quasi-experimental
 research design was used, employing repeated observations over time to
 assess the impact of the Demand Reduction Program on factors such as
 the volume of arrests, the percentage of cases formally booked, the
 proportion of cases accepted for prosecution, the use of deferred
 prosecution, and prosecution outcomes. Additional Task Force data were
 collected specific to the Task Force operation which resulted in the
individual's arrest.
description: Part 1: The Demand Reduction Program data provide
 information on prosecutor's disposition, arrest date, submitted
 charges, filed charges, prior charges, disposition of charges, drugs
 used in last three months, information on prior drug treatment, type
 of attorney, and arrestee's age at arrest, sex, marital status,
 income, and living arrangement. Since data collection ended May 1,
 1991, the length of "time at risk" varies considerably between those
 who entered the program early and those who entered late. Part 2:
 Adult residents of Maricopa County were asked about their attitudes
 toward drug use, tax support for drug treatment, education, and
 punishment, their knowledge of the Demand Reduction Program, and
 demographic information. Parts 3-4: The police surveys provide
 officer's rank, years at rank, years in department, shift worked, age,
 sex, ethnicity, education, marital status, if officer was the primary
 or secondary wage earner, officer's perception of and training for the
 Demand Reduction Program, and personal attitudes toward drug use. Part
 5: Task Force data include arrest date, operation number, operation
 beginning and ending date, operation type, region where operation was
 conducted, charge resulting from arrest, Demand Reduction Program
identification number, and arrestee's sex, race, and date of birth.
description: Response Rates: Parts 1 and 5: Not applicable. Part 2: 99.75
 percent. Parts 3-4: Nearly 70 percent of the total number of returned
questionnaires were complete.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Parts 1 and 5: Cases represent all drug users arrested
 by Maricopa County police officers (Part 1) or Task Force officers
 (Part 5) between March 1989 and February 1991, whose cases were
 reviewed by the Maricopa County Attorney's Office by March 1,
 1991. Part 2: The sample of adult residents in Maricopa County was
 provided through a random-digit telephone survey method. Parts 3-4:
 The sample of police officers was obtained by distributing
 questionnaires during the briefing period preceding all three shifts
 on each day of one Thursday-Friday-Saturday time period between March
1990 and April 1991.
description: Datasets: 
DS0: Study-Level Files
DS1: Demand Reduction Program Data
DS2: Citizen Survey, 1990
DS3: Survey of Police Officers, 1990
DS4: Survey of Police Officers, 1991
DS5: Task Force Data
DS6: Codebook for All Parts
DS7: SAS Data Definition Statements for Demand Reduction Program Data
DS8: SAS Data Definition Statements for Citizen Survey, 1990
DS9: SAS Data Definition Statements for Survey of Police Officers, 1990
DS10: SAS Data Definition Statements for Survey of Police Officers, 1991
DS11: SAS Data Definition Statements for Task Force Data
DS12: User Guide
description: Parts 1 and 5: Adult drug users in Maricopa County,
 Arizona. Part 2: Adult residents of Maricopa County, Arizona. Parts
 3-4: Police officers in participating law enforcement agencies of the
Maricopa County Demand Reduction Program.
description: Recidivism was defined as any new charge submitted
 to the Maricopa County Attorney's Office after the offense which first
 brought the offender to the attention of the Demand Reduction
 Program. Variables on subsequent charges should be used for recidivism
analysis.