DOI: 10.3886/icpsr03597.v1
title: National Survey of Police-Media Relations, 2000
title: Version 1

description: This study was undertaken to examine the influence police
 officers have in creating an image of law enforcement through media
 relations and public information offices/officers (PIO). A survey was
 mailed nationwide to police departments serving areas with populations
 exceeding 100,000 residents. The survey items identified the following
 factors: (1) the presence and nature of a formal departmental media
 strategy, (2) the prevalence of full-time police PIO, (3) PIO
 background characteristics, including educational/vocational training
 in media, journalism, or public relations, (4) specific goals of
 police media relations offices and PIOs, (5) the various methods by
 which these goals are achieved, and (6) the perceived quality of
 police-media interaction, the police image, and the public information
 office both before and after the adoption of the current media
strategy.
description: Media power represents the extent to which
 interested groups command control of media messages relevant to their
 particular interests. This study sought to examine the influence
 police officers have in creating an image of law enforcement through
media relations and public information offices.
description: Given the limited available information regarding
 police media relations offices and public information offices (PIOs)
 in the United States, this study administered a self-report mail
 survey to municipal law enforcement agencies nationwide to obtain
 information regarding the nature and quality of police media
 relations. The survey was sent to departments serving areas with
 populations of 100,000 residents or greater, since research indicates
 that departments of this size are more likely to have frequent
 contacts with the news media. A list of departments that comprised the
 sampling frame was obtained from the 1999 National Directory of Law
 Enforcement Administrators, published by the National Public Safety
 and Information Bureau. This directory contained over 37,000
 department profiles covering 18 levels of jurisdiction (i.e.,
 municipal, county, federal, corrections) and included such information
 as municipality population, number of serving officers, and the name
 of the acting department chief. The purpose of the survey was to
 gather information regarding the strategies employed by various police
 departments to promote and enhance their image through the media and
 their perceived effectiveness, as reported by police officials. Survey
 items identified the following factors: (1) the presence and nature of
 a formal departmental media strategy, (2) the prevalence of full-time
 police PIOs, (3) PIO background characteristics, including
 educational/vocational training in media, journalism, or public
 relations, (4) specific goals of police media relations offices and
 PIOs, (5) the various methods by which these goals are achieved, and
 (6) the perceived quality of police-media interaction, the police
 image, and the public information office both before and after the
 adoption of the current media strategy. All surveys were addressed to
 the highest-ranking official within the department, asking him/her to
 respond to the survey personally or to have the survey completed by a
 member of the department who could a accurately represent the views of
 the top police official. Each respondent was asked to provide a
 complete evaluation of department police-media relations and was
 assured complete confidentiality of all information provided. A
 pretest of the survey instrument that revealed questionnaire items
 requiring minor revision was mailed to all municipal police
 departments serving areas having populations between 90,000 and 99,999
residents. The final survey was mailed in the spring of 2000.
description: Variables include the number of news organizations
 and reporters (newspapers, TV, or radio) a department communicated
 with during an average week, whether the department's staff ever
 contacted reporters to issue a press release, schedule a news
 conference, or provide assistance with crime coverage, whether the
 department had a written media policy or media strategy, whether the
 department's current media policy had been helpful in preparing the
 department for communications with the media, controlling news leaks,
 addressing allegations of misconduct, presenting a favorable public
 image, or promoting department policing strategies, who within the
 department had routine authorization to communicate with the media,
 whether these individuals ever had any formal training in media
 communication skills, whether the department provided training in
 media communication for its staff and what the format (video
 presentation, reading material, or guest lecturer) and content of the
 training were, views on the importance of promoting crime prevention
 education, building police/ community partnerships, building a
 positive police image, and informing the public of police initiatives,
 whether the department had a favorable or unfavorable working
 relationship with the media, whether the department felt that the
 media was biased against them, and complaints a department had
 regarding media coverage of its department. Other variables include
 population of the municipality, number of sworn officers, property and
 violent crime totals, and the rank of the officer filling out the
survey on behalf of the department.
description: Response Rates: The response rate was 76 percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: Several Likert-type scales were used.
description: The sampling frame was comprised of police departments
 listed in the 1999 National Directory of Law Enforcement
 Administrators. The survey instrument was sent to police departments
 nationwide serving areas with a population of 100,000 residents or
greater.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: National Survey of Police-Media Relations, 2000
description: Municipal police departments serving areas with a
population of 100,000 residents or greater. Smallest Geographic Unit: none