DOI: 10.3886/icpsr37916
title: Police-Public Contact Survey, 2018
title: Archival Version

description: The Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS) provides detailed information on the nature and characteristics of face-to-face contacts between police and the public, including the reason for and outcome of the contact and the respondent's satisfaction with the contact. The data can be used to estimate the likelihood of different types of contact for residents with different demographic characteristics, including contacts involving the use of nonfatal force by police. The PPCS is used to collect data from a nationally representative sample of U.S. residents age 16 or older as a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey. To date, the PPCS has been conducted eight times by BJS: 1. 1996. Described in the BJS publication Police Use of Force: Collection of National Data (NCJ 165040). 2. 1999. Described in Contacts between Police and the Public: Findings from the 1999 National Survey (NCJ 184957). These data are archived as POLICE-PUBLIC CONTACT SURVEY, 1999: [UNITED STATES] (ICPSR 3151). 3. 2002. Described in Contacts between Police and the Public: Findings from the 2002 National Survey (NCJ 207845). These data are archived as POLICE-PUBLIC CONTACT SURVEY, 2002: [UNITED STATES] (ICPSR 4273). 4. 2005. Described in the BJS publication Contacts between Police and the Public, 2005 (NCJ 215243). These data are archived as POLICE-PUBLIC CONTACT SURVEY, 2005: [UNITED STATES] (ICPSR 020020). 5. 2008. Described in the BJS publication Contacts between Police and the Public, 2008 (NCJ 234599). These data are archived as POLICE-PUBLIC CONTACT SURVEY, 2008 (ICPSR 32022). 6. 2011. Split sample design due to instrument changes. New instrument findings described in two publications: Police Behavior During Traffic and Street Stops, 2011 (NCJ 242937) and Requests for Police Assistance, 2011 (NCJ 242938). These data are archived as POLICE-PUBLIC CONTACT SURVEY, 2011 (ICPSR 34276). 7. 2015. Described in the BJS publication Contacts between Police and Public, 2015 (NCJ 251145). These data are archived as POLICE-PUBLIC CONTACT SURVEY, 2015 (ICPSR 36653). 8. 2018.Described in the BJS publication Contacts between Police and Public, 2018. These data are archived as POLICE-PUBLIC CONTACT SURVEY, 2018 (ICPSR 37916).
description: The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is an annual survey that collects data on crime against persons age 12 or older from a nationally representative, stratified, multistage cluster sample of U.S. households. The Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS)is a supplement to the NCVS, administered to NCVS respondents age 16 or older. BJS conducted a pilot test of the Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS) in 1996 as a supplement to the NCVS. A revised version of the PPCS was fielded in 1999 among a national sample nearly 15 times as large as the 1996 pilot sample. Since 1999, the PPCS typically has been administered every 3 years as a supplemental survey to all persons age 16 or older within households sampled for the NCVS. The 2015 PPCS was delayed a year. The U.S. Census Bureau fielded the 2018 PPCS questionnaire, processed the survey data, and provided estimation specifications. The 2018 PPCS was cognitively tested from June through November of 2017 and conducted between July 1, 2018, and December 31, 2018. Respondents were asked about their contacts with police during the past 12 months. For instance, persons interviewed in July 2018 were asked about contacts that occurred between August 2017 and July 2018. Those interviewed in August 2014 were asked about contacts between September 2013 and August 2014. PPCS questionnaire was revised for the 2015 cycle to better capture contacts with police. BJS made three substantive improvements to the PPCS instrument prior to the upcoming administration. The first was the addition of a verification question following multiple screener items that ask about various types of contact with the police. The new verification question allows interviewers to confirm they accurately understand all incidents reported. The other two substantive changes were two questions added to the questionnaire - one aiming to address perceptions of verbal and/or sexual harassment by police and one aiming to address perceptions that police behaviors were motivated by prejudice or bias against the respondent. Several minor instrument changes were also implemented as a result of previous administrations of the PPCS and cognitive testing. The Census Bureau calculates PPCS response rates as the weighted ratio of persons completing interviews over persons who were eligible to receive the questionnaire. The unweighted PPCS response rate was 74.7% (104,300 respondents of the 139,700 eligible)(see Table 1 in the codebook). In 2018, persons who completed their NCVS interview in a language other than English could complete the PPCS in the same language. PPCS respondents who received the revised survey instrument were asked about their contact with police during the 12 months prior to their interview. Respondents were provided a list of specific reasons for having contact with police. Persons who had more than one contact were asked more detailed questions about only their most recent contact during the time period.
description: To obtain national estimates, the weight variable must be used. The overall weight is calculated by multiplying the PPCS base weight by the PPCS noninterview adjustment factor. This adjustment factor weights up to the total PPCS sample for persons interviewed for NCVS but not PPCS.
description: Response Rates: The combined PPCS response rate is a product of the NCVS household response rate, NCVS person response rate and the PPCS response rate. The overall weighted response rate for the 2018 PPCS was 53.6%.
description: Stratified multistage cluster sample. The Police-Public Contact Survey (PPCS) interviews a nationally representative sample of households about their contacts with police during the previous 12 months. The PPCS is conducted as a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey.
description: Datasets: DS1: Police-Public Contact Survey, 2018
description: National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) respondents age 16 or older interviewed during the last six months of 2018. The universe of the NCVS is all persons in the United States age 12 and older. Smallest Geographic Unit: country
description: computer-assisted telephone interview (CATI); telephone interview