DOI: 10.3886/icpsr20262.v1
title: Response to Terrorism by Local Prosecutors in 70 Large Jurisdictions in the United States, 2004
title: Version 1

description: The American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI)
 conducted an exploratory study to examine how prosecutors can best
 respond to terrorism in a post-September 11 legislative environment.
 Because the passage of anti-terrorism legislation at the state level
 has the potential to have an impact on local prosecutors, who are
 responsible for enforcing state laws, the American Prosecutors
 Research Institute (APRI) designed a survey to examine local
 prosecutors' involvement in homeland security and the ways in which
 their offices' organizational structure have changed to facilitate
 their involvement. Surveys were mailed or faxed to the 112 largest
 jurisdictions in the country. The survey instrument was divided into
 the following seven sections: (1) Background Information on the
 Jurisdiction, (2) Experience With State Legislation, (3)
 Organizational Changes, (4) Challenges Facing Local Prosecutors, (5)
 Methods Used to Overcome Challenges, (6) Coordination With Other
 Agencies, and (7) Training Needs. The survey questions focused on the
 legal framework and organizational structure in which local
prosecutors operate.
description: The American Prosecutors Research Institute
 (APRI) conducted an exploratory study to examine how prosecutors can
 best respond to terrorism in a post-September 11 legislative
 environment. The goal of this study was to assess local prosecutors'
 enforcement of new state legislation, changes in prosecutorial
 responsibilities in a post-September 11 environment, changes in
 priorities and the practical implications of these changes, and new
 challenges encountered, particularly those that affect the integration
of local, state, and federal efforts.
description: Because the passage of anti-terrorism legislation
 at the state level has the potential to leave an impact on local
 prosecutors, who are responsible for enforcing state laws, the
 American Prosecutors Research Institute (APRI) designed a survey to
 examine local prosecutors' involvement in homeland security and the
 ways in which their offices' organizational structure have changed to
 facilitate their involvement. Surveys were mailed or faxed to the 112
 largest jurisdictions in the country, and participants were given 14
 days to complete and return the survey. A second mailing/faxing was
 conducted immediately after the 14-day response period elapsed, to
 those offices that had not responded. Those offices were given an
 additional 14 days to respond. Surveys were distributed a third and
 final time to nonrespondents via facsimile the day after the second
 deadline. This time, nonrespondents were given 10 days to complete the
survey.
description: The survey instrument was divided into the
 following seven sections: (1) Background Information on the
 Jurisdiction, (2) Experience With State Legislation, (3)
 Organizational Changes, (4) Challenges Facing Local Prosecutors, (5)
 Methods Used to Overcome Challenges, (6) Coordination With Other
 Agencies, and (7) Training Needs. The survey questions focused on the
 legal framework and organizational structure in which local
 prosecutors operate. Variables in Section 1, Background Information on
 the Jurisdiction, include the capacity in which the jurisdiction is
 involved in homeland security issues, the number of terrorism-related
 offenses and terrorist acts investigated and/or prosecuted, and
 whether the offense was classified as domestic and/or international.
 Experience With State Legislation (Section 2) variables include the
 awareness of new state statutes, the number of cases investigated
 and/or prosecuted under new and/or amended statutes, the prosecution
 of precursor crimes related to terrorism -- and how such crimes are
 determined to be related to terrorism, as well as caseload changes by
 crime. Items contained in Section 3, Organizational Changes, include
 the procedural/organizational changes in the office in response to the
 September 11 attacks, the number and type of staff involved in
 terrorism-related cases, case processing issues, and other changes in
 policy/procedures. Section 4, Challenges Facing Local Prosecutors,
 contains questions pertaining to the perceived challenges and value of
 new intelligence-gathering methods and the perceived impact of the new
 legislation on ability to respond to terrorism. Section 5, Methods
 Used to Overcome Challenges, asks respondents about 16 methods that
 jurisdictions employ to overcome the challenges encountered as a
 result of investigating and prosecuting terrorism incidents. Variables
 pertaining to the types and frequency of information sharing with
 other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies,
 participation in anti-terrorism task forces, and intelligence sharing
 are included in Section 6, Coordination With Other Agencies. Section
 7, Training Needs, includes variables that address the adequacy of
 training, as well as training areas that would help facilitate the
effective prosecution of terrorist acts.
description: Not applicable.
description: Response Rates: A total of 70 jurisdictions completed the survey,
which produced a response rate of 62.5 percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used.
description: APRI used a judgment sample to survey the 112 largest
 jurisdictions in the country. A jurisdiction was defined as large if
 it had a population equal to or greater than 500,000. A judgment
 sample was used because it was believed that prosecutors in large
 jurisdictions would have the most experience with the new and/or
 amended state legislation. Furthermore, the intent of the survey was
 not to generalize the results to all local prosecutors' offices in the
country.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Response to Terrorism by Local Prosecutors in 70 Large Jurisdictions in the United States, 2004
description: Prosecutorial Jurisdictions in the United States with a
population greater than 500,000 in 2004. Smallest Geographic Unit: none
description: mail questionnaireData from the statutory review of the new/amended
 state anti-terrorism legislation and the five case studies are not
available as part of this collection.