Appendix A: Survey of Law Enforcement Departments: Questions and
Descriptive Statistics
Regional
Variation in Response to Survey
|
Region |
Original
Sample, 250 Cities |
Response
Group |
|
Northeast |
13.4% |
7.3% |
|
Midwest |
19.8% |
20.5% |
|
South |
30.4% |
34.4% |
|
West |
36.4% |
37.7% |
City
Size Variation in Response to Survey
|
Statistic |
Original
Sample, 250 Cities |
Response
Group |
|
Mean Population |
274,430.9 |
267,462.7 |
|
Median Population |
140,891 |
142,560 |
What was the total annual budget for your entire
department in 1998? Mean: $60,000,000
N= 137
How many sworn police officers did your department
have in 1998? Mean: 607.31
N= 141
Administrative
Procedures and Practices Questions
Does your police department have a special officer,
task force or unit to investigate and track bias or hate crimes? (by hate
crimes we mean crimes committed because of the victims race, ethnicity, gender,
disability, or sexual orientation)
0 no 55.7%
1 yes 35.6%
2 Other
8.7%
N= 149
Does your department require training for officers
on the identification and reporting of hate or bias crimes?
0 no 33.1%
1 yes 60.8%
2 Other
6.1%
N= 148
Does your department have a liaison officer for the following communities (by liaison we mean
an employee who job is to meet with the community and help solve that
communities problems or complaints with the department)?
--African Americans No 47.4% Yes 44.7% n/a 8.6%
--Lesbians and gays No 57.2% Yes 36.2% n/a 6.6%
Does your department have any programs or make any special
efforts to hire persons from the following groups?
--African Americans No 22.4% Yes 72.4% n/a 5.3%
--Lesbians and gays No 66.4% Yes 24.3% n/a 9.3%
Does your department participate in the voluntary
federal program to collect statistics on hate crimes under the Hate Crime
Statistics Act of 1990?
0 no 15.1%
1 yes 77.6%
2 Other
2.6%
99 n/a
4.6%
N= 152
Has your department participated in federal training
programs for the identification, tracking, and reporting of hate crimes?
0 No 38.2%
1 Yes 27.6%
99 Don't know 34.2%
N= 152
Implementation
Effort Questions
On a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 meaning not serious
at all and 10 meaning very serious, please rate your perception of how seriously regular uniformed officers take hate crimes and the enforcement of hate
crime laws
|
|
0 Poor |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 Excellent |
Mean |
|
N=
143 |
0% |
2.1% |
0% |
0.7% |
0% |
1.4% |
4.2% |
13.3% |
26.6% |
21.0% |
30.8% |
8.38 |
On a scale from 0 to 10, with 0 meaning poor and 10
being excellent, please rate your perception of your department's effort to
track, classify, and report hate crime incidents
|
|
0 Poor |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 Excellent |
Mean |
|
N=
138 |
3.6 |
1.4 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
10.9 |
2.9 |
5.1 |
15.9 |
22.5 |
31.2 |
7.7 |
Based on your knowledge of the behavior of hate
crime victims would you say that hate
crime victims (please circle):
0 never report hate crimes 0.0%
1 often do not report hate crimes 14.5%
2 sometimes do not sometimes do report hate
crimes 49.3%
3 often do report hate crimes 29.6%
4 always report hate crimes 2.0%
99 no
answer/don’t know 4.6%
N= 152
Please rate the degree to which local groups
concerned about hate crimes attempt to influence your department's activities
related to hate crimes:
0 Never try to influence our activities
related to hate crimes 9.9%
1 Almost never try to influence our activities 32.2%
2 Sometimes do not sometimes do try to
influence our activities 36.2%
3 Often try to influence our activities 15.8%
4 Always try to influence our activities 2.7%
99 no
answer/don’t know
3.3%
N= 152
Based on your experience, how much impact do you
think hate crime laws have on reducing the number of hate crimes in your city?
0 No impact 17.8%
1 Very little impact 42.1%
2 Some impact 29.6%
3 Quite a bit of impact 5.3%
4 A very large impact 0.0%
99 no
answer/don’t know 5.2%
N= 152
How strongly do you agree with the following
statement "Hate motivated crimes are more serious than other, similar but
non-bias motivated crimes."
1 Strongly disagree 3.3%
2 Disagree 11.8%
3 Neither disagree or agree 27.0%
4 Agree 35.5%
5 Strongly agree 18.4%
99 no
answer/don’t know 3.9%
N= 152
How much of a problem is lack of funding in your
department's efforts to enforce hate crime laws and collect statistics on hate
crime?
1 Not a problem 58.6%
2 Slight problem 21.7%
3 Problem 11.8%
4 Severe problem 2.0%
5 Severe and continuing problem 0.0%
99 no
answer/don’t know 5.9%
N= 152
How much of a problem is lack of training in your
department's efforts to enforce hate crime laws and collect statistics on hate
crime?
1 Not a problem 50.7%
2 Slight problem 30.9%
3 Problem 11.2%
4 Severe problem 1.3%
5 Severe and continuing problem 0.0%
99 no
answer/don’t know 5.9%
N= 152
How concerned have local politicians in your city
been about the issue of hate crime in the past three years?
1 Not at all concerned 18.4%
2 Somewhat concerned 40.1%
3 Concerned 22.4%
4 Very concerned 11.2%
99 no
answer/don’t know 7.9%
N= 152
Hypothetical Scenario Questions
How likely is it that the police officers on the
scene will classify the crime as a hate crime? (in percent)
|
|
0 Very Unlikely |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 Very Likely |
Mean |
|
N= 143 |
4.2% |
1.4 |
2.1 |
1.4 |
2.1 |
7.7 |
6.3 |
9.1 |
20.3 |
18.9 |
26.6 |
7.56 |
How likely is it that an arrest will be made in the
case? (in percent)
|
|
0 Very Unlikely |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 Very Likely |
Mean |
|
N= 137 |
13.9 |
2.2 |
5.1 |
8.0 |
5.1 |
8.0 |
7.3 |
11.7 |
15.3 |
11.7 |
11.7 |
5.67 |
How likely is it that the district attorney will
pursue the case? (in percent)
|
|
0 Very Unlikely |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 Very Likely |
Mean |
|
N= 134 |
14.9 |
1.5 |
4.5 |
6.0 |
3.0 |
10.4 |
7.5 |
6.7 |
16.4 |
12.7 |
16.4 |
5.94 |
How likely is it that a conviction will be made in
the case? (in percent)
|
|
0 Very Unlikely |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
10 Very Likely |
Mean |
|
N= 127 |
14.2 |
3.1 |
7.1 |
6.3 |
4.7 |
8.7 |
11.8 |
7.1 |
20.5 |
10.2 |
6.3 |
5.38 |