DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02481
title: Effects of Community Policing on Tasks of Street-Level Police Officers in Ohio, 1981 and 1996
title: Archival Version

description: These data were collected to analyze the impact of
 community-oriented policing (COP) on job assignments of police
 officers in Ohio. The study compared the self-reported job tasks of
 police officers in 1981 to those in 1996 to determine if job tasks had
 changed over time, if they differed between officers in departments
 pursuing community policing, or if they differed between officers
 assigned as "community policing" officers and those having more
 traditional assignments. The 1981 Ohio Peace Officer Task Analysis
 Survey was conducted to measure police officer tasks. A total of 1,989
 police officers from over 300 Ohio police agencies responded to that
 survey. Recognizing that community policing had not yet begun to enjoy
 popularity when the first sample of officers was questioned in 1981
 and that the job of policing and the training needs of peace officers
 had changed over the past 15 years, the Ohio Office of Criminal
 Justice Services again conducted a task analysis survey of a sample of
 police officers throughout the state in 1996. The 1996 survey
 instrument included 23 items taken directly from the earlier
 survey. These 23 items are the only variables from the 1981 survey
 that are included in this dataset, and they form the basis of the
 study's comparisons. A total of 1,689 officers from 229 police
 departments responded to the 1996 survey. Additionally, while the 1996
 Peace Officer Task Analysis survey was in the field, the local police
 agencies included in the survey sample were asked to complete a
 separate agency survey to determine if they had a community policing
 program. A total of 180 departments returned responses to this agency
 survey. Background questions for the 1981 and 1996 task analysis
 surveys included police officers' age, race, sex, and job
 satisfaction. Items concerning police officers' job tasks covered
 frequency of conducting field searches of arrested persons,
 handcuffing suspects, impounding property, participating in raids,
 patrolling on foot, giving street directions, mediating family
 disputes, and engaging in school visits. The 1996 agency questionnaire
 gathered data on whether the police department had a COP program or a
 mission statement that emphasized community involvement, whether the
 COP program had an actual implementation date and a full-time
 supervisor, whether the respondents were currently assigned as COP
 officers, and whether the department's COP officers had had
supplemental training.
description: The dominant framework in American policing in
 the last decade has been community policing. Not only is community
 policing immensely popular with police administrators and the public,
 it has become a cornerstone of crime control policy nationwide. While
 much has been written on the concept and emergence of community
 policing, little is known of how departments translate these concepts
 into practice. Although numerous descriptive studies have been
 conducted regarding the nature of community-oriented policing,
 there is a dearth of scientific study regarding community policing's
 concrete effects on police departments and police officers.
 Similarly, most research on community policing has failed to explain
 what effect community policing has had on the daily tasks of police
 officers. If community policing entails that policing be
 decentralized, solve community problems, make officers proactive and
 creative, and involve community members, then in what specific tasks
 are community police officers engaged to this end? This study sought
 to examine the impact of community policing on police officers'
 activities in Ohio. It was guided by these primary questions: (1) Has
 there been a change in police officer activities since the advent of
 community policing? (2) Do the reported tasks of officers working in
 agencies that reported adopting community-oriented policing differ
 from those in agencies not adopting community policing? (3) Does
departmental commitment to community policing affect officers' tasks?
description: To determine if the advent of community policing
 had changed the activities of line-level police officers, the study
 employed three sources of data. First, the 1981 Ohio Peace Officer
 Task Analysis Survey was conducted to measure police officer tasks.
 Over 300 Ohio police agencies participated, and the final sample
 included responses from 1,989 police officers. This survey contained
 groups of specific task statements categorized into subsections such
 as administration, arrest, search and seizure, patrol, community
 relations and crime prevention, and traffic. To determine what tasks
 police officers performed, the original questionnaire listed the task
 statements and asked police officers to tell how often they performed
 each task. Officers could respond from 0 (never) to 5 (daily).
 Recognizing that community policing had not yet begun to enjoy
 popularity when the first sample of officers was questioned in 1981
 and that the job of policing and the training needs of peace officers
 had changed over the past 15 years, the Ohio Office of Criminal
 Justice Services again conducted a task analysis survey of a sample of
 police officers throughout the state in 1996. The survey instrument
 was changed from that of the 1981 survey to better assess needed
 knowledge, skills, and abilities for police officers. Nonetheless, the
 1996 survey instrument included 23 items taken directly from the
 earlier survey. These 23 items are the only variables from the 1981
 survey that are included in this dataset, and they form the basis of
 the study's comparisons. A total of 1,689 officers from 229 police
 departments responded to the 1996 survey. While the 1996 Peace Officer
 Task Analysis survey was in the field, the local police agencies
 included in the task analysis survey sample were asked to complete a
 separate agency survey to determine if they had a community policing
 program. This agency questionnaire gathered data on whether the police
 department had a community-oriented policing program, described the
 components of the program, and determined the level of departmental
 commitment to community-oriented policing. A total of 180 departments
returned responses to this agency survey.
description: Both the 1981 and 1996 task analysis surveys
 collected information on police officers' age, race, sex, and job
 satisfaction. Items regarding police officers' job tasks included
 frequency of conducting field searches of arrested persons,
 handcuffing suspects, impounding property, participating in raids,
 patrolling on foot, giving street directions, mediating family
 disputes, and engaging in school visits. The 1996 agency questionnaire
 gathered data on whether the police department had a community
 policing program or a mission statement which emphasized community
 involvement, whether the COP program had an actual implementation date
 and a full-time supervisor, whether the respondents were currently
 assigned as COP officers, and whether the department's COP officers
had had supplemental training.
description: Response Rates: Specific response rates are not available.
 However, 1,989 police officers from over 300 police departments
 responded to the 1981-1982 Ohio Peace Task Analysis survey, 1,689 police
 officers from 229 police departments responded to the 1996 Ohio Peace
 Task Analysis survey, and 180 departments responded to the agency
survey, while 49 departments did not respond at all.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Agencies having at least one full-time officer were
 sampled for the agency survey, and individual police officers were
randomly selected from the agencies that received the agency survey.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Effects of Community Policing on Tasks of Street-Level Police Officers in Ohio, 1981 and 1996
description: All police officers in Ohio.
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.