Fight Crime: Invest In Kids
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Washington, DC 20005-3107
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Police Chiefs Say More Government Investments in Kids are
Key to Fighting Crime Survey Findings
Attached are results from a poll conducted in July 1996 for Fight Crime: Invest In Kids by the Northeastern University's Center for Criminal Justice Policy Research, under the direction of Professor Jack McDevitt.
The survey sought opinions of 780 police chiefs, including all chiefs from cities with populations over 100,000, and a sample of 288 chiefs from cities of less than 25,000, and 292 chiefs from cities of between 25,000 and 100,000. The response rate was 70% for a total of 548 surveys returned.
More than nine out of ten police chiefs (92%) agreed with the statement "America could sharply reduce crime if government invested more in programs to help children and youth get a good start" by "fully funding Head Start for infants and toddlers, preventing child abuse, providing parenting training for high-risk families, improving schools and providing after school programs and mentoring." These results were strikingly similar regardless of region or city size.
Nine out of ten also agreed that "if America does not pay for greater investments in programs to help children and youth now, we will all pay far more later in crime, welfare, and other costs." Again, these results were nearly identical regardless of city size.
When chiefs were asked to rank the long-term effectiveness of a number of possible crime fighting approaches, "increasing investment in programs that help all children and youth get a good start" was picked as "most effective" nearly four times as often as either "trying more juveniles as adults" or even "hiring additional police officers."
The attached results are broken down by city size within each of the three city sizes. The appendix presents a further breakdown among those cities with populations over 100,000. Regional data is also presented.
Table 1(A)
Question 1: Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement: In the long run, America could sharply reduce crime if government invested more in programs to help children and youth get a good start (for example, fully funding Head Start for infants and toddlers, preventing child abuse, providing parenting training for high-risk families, improving schools, and providing after-school programs and mentoring).
Attitude |
Size of Community |
||||||
Nationwide % |
25,000 and under % |
25,001 - 100,000 % |
100,001 - or more % |
||||
| Strongly Agree | 46 |
38 |
51 |
59 |
|||
| Agree | 46 |
52 |
41 |
37 |
|||
| No Opinion | 3 |
4 |
2 |
1 |
|||
| Disagree | 4 |
5 |
6 |
3 |
|||
| Strongly Disagree | 1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|||
n=204 |
n=186 |
n=154 |
|||||
Graph 1(A)
Question 1: Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement: In the long run, America could sharply reduce crime if government invested more in programs to help children and youth get a good start (for example, fully funding Head Start for infants and toddlers, preventing child abuse, providing parenting training for high-risk families, improving schools, and providing after-school programs and mentoring).
Table 1(B)
Question 1: Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement: In the long run, America could sharply reduce crime if government invested more in programs to help children and youth get a good start (for example, fully funding Head Start for infants and toddlers, preventing child abuse, providing parenting training for high-risk families, improving schools, and providing after-school programs and mentoring).
Attitude |
Region |
||||||
Northeast % |
South % |
Midwest % |
West % |
||||
| Strongly Agree | 52 |
52 |
38 |
54 |
|||
| Agree | 38 |
41 |
55 |
40 |
|||
| No Opinion | 4 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
|||
| Disagree | 6 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
|||
| Strongly Disagree | 0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
|||
n=128 |
n=154 |
n=161 |
n=101 |
||||
Graph 1(B)
Question 1: Please indicate your level of agreement or disagreement with the following statement: In the long run, America could sharply reduce crime if government invested more in programs to help children and youth get a good start (for example, fully funding Head Start for infants and toddlers, preventing child abuse, providing parenting training for high-risk families, improving schools, and providing after-school programs and mentoring).
Table 2(A)
Question 2: Which of these statements comes closer to your view?
Greater investment in children and youth may be worthwhile, but will not be valuable as a crime prevention tool.
View |
Size of Community |
|||||||
Nationwide % |
25,000 and under % |
25,001 - 100,000 % |
100,001 - or more % |
|||||
| A) Invest now or pay far more later | 90 |
88 |
90 |
94 |
||||
| B) Perhaps worthwhile but not effective for crime prevention | 10 |
12 |
10 |
6 |
||||
n=203 |
n=183 |
n=154 |
||||||
Graph 2(A)
Question 2: Which of these statements comes closer to your view?
Greater investment in children and youth may be worthwhile, but will not be valuable as a crime prevention tool.
Table 2(B)
Question 2: Which of these statements comes closer to your view?
Greater investment in children and youth may be worthwhile, but will not be valuable as a crime prevention tool.
View |
Region |
||||||
Northeast % |
South % |
Midwest % |
West % |
||||
| A) Invest now or pay far more later | 93 |
90 |
86 |
93 |
|||
| B) Perhaps worthwhile but not effective for crime prevention | 7 |
10 |
14 |
7 |
|||
n=127 |
n=152 |
n=159 |
n=102 |
||||
Graph 2(B)
Question 2: Which of these statements comes closer to your view?
Greater investment in children and youth may be worthwhile, but will not be valuable as a crime prevention tool.
Table 3(A)
Question 3: Using your best judgment, please rate the following, on a scale from 1 to 5, on their value as a crime prevention tool:
Very Valuable |
Valuable |
Not at all Valuable |
|||
| A. Head Start or similar early childhood education | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| B. prevention of child abuse and neglect | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| C. after-school and summer programs | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| D. mentoring programs | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| E. job training for teenagers | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| F. parenting training for high-risk families | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Percent of departments indicating the following programs are "very valuable" or "valuable"
Program |
Size of Community |
|||
Nationwide % |
25,000 and under % |
25,001 - 100,000 % |
100,001 - or more % |
|
| A) Head Start or similar early childhood education | 60 |
56 (n=204) |
61 (n=185) |
67 (n=155) |
| B) prevention of child abuse and neglect | 82 |
80 (n=205) |
83 (n=184) |
84 (n=154) |
| C) after-school and summer programs | 66 |
62 (n=203) |
72 (n=186) |
69 (n=155) |
| D) mentoring programs | 67 |
59 (n=203) |
70 (n=187) |
78 (n=154) |
| E) job-training for teenagers | 71 |
67 (n=203) |
74 (n=186) |
77 (n=155) |
| F) parenting training for high-risk families | 78 |
77 (n=205) |
78 (n=187) |
81 (n=155) |
Graph 3(A)
Question 3: Using your best judgment, please rate the following, on a scale from 1 to 5, on their value as a crime prevention tool:
Very Valuable |
Valuable |
Not at all Valuable |
|||
| A. Head Start or similar early childhood education | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| B. prevention of child abuse and neglect | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| C. after-school and summer programs | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| D. mentoring programs | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| E. job training for teenagers | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| F. parenting training for high-risk families | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Percent of departments indicating the following programs are "very valuable" or "valuable"
Table 3(B)
Question 3: Using your best judgment, please rate the following, on a scale from 1 to 5, on their value as a crime prevention tool:
Very Valuable |
Valuable |
Not at all Valuable |
|||
| A. Head Start or similar early childhood education | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| B. prevention of child abuse and neglect | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| C. after-school and summer programs | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| D. mentoring programs | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| E. job training for teenagers | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
| F. parenting training for high-risk families | 1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
Percent of departments indicating the following programs are "very valuable" or "valuable"
Program |
Region |
|||
Northeast % |
South % |
Midwest % |
West % |
|
| A) Head Start or similar early childhood education | 60 (n=129) |
67 (n=154) |
57 (n=159) |
58 (n=102) |
| B) prevention of child abuse and neglect | 83 (n=128) |
87 (n=154) |
74 (n=159) |
85 (n=102) |
| C) after-school and summer programs | 68 (n=127) |
71 (n=154) |
61 (n=161) |
71 (n=102) |
| D) mentoring programs | 64 (n=129) |
76 (n=153) |
61 (n=161) |
73 (n=101) |
| E) job-training for teenagers | 71 (n=129) |
72 (n=155) |
69 (n=158) |
79 (n=102) |
| F) parenting training for high-risk families | 78 (n=129) |
75 (n=155) |
80 (n=161) |
79 (n=102) |
Table 4(A)
4. Please rank each of the following policies on a scale of 1 to 4, giving a "1" to the policy you think is most effective and a "4" to the policy you think is the least effective according to their long-term effectiveness in reducing crime and violence. (please use each number only once)
| A) Trying more juveniles as adults, and sentencing more juveniles to adult prisons. |
| B) Increasing investment in programs that help all children and youth get a good start. |
| C) Hiring of additional police officers. |
| D) Making parents legally liable when their children commit crimes. |
Percent of departments indicating the following policies are the "most effective"
Policy |
Size of Community |
|||
Nationwide % |
25,000 and under % |
25,001 - 100,000 % |
100,001 - or more % |
|
| A) Trying more juveniles as adults, and sentencing more juveniles to adult prisons. | 16 |
20 (n=205) |
10 (n=184) |
12 (n=154) |
| B) Increasing investment in programs that help all children and youth get a good start. | 60 |
51 (n=206) |
67 (n=185) |
74 (n=155) |
| C) Hiring of additional police officers. | 17 |
20 (n=205) |
11 (n=185) |
17 (n=155) |
| D) Making parents legally liable when their children commit crimes. | 26 |
32 (n=204) |
19 (n=186) |
18 (n=154) |
Graph 4(A)
4. Please rank each of the following policies on a scale of 1 to 4, giving a "1" to the policy you think is most effective and a "4" to the policy you think is the least effective according to their long-term effectiveness in reducing crime and violence. (please use each number only once)
| A) Trying more juveniles as adults, and sentencing more juveniles to adult prisons. |
| B) Increasing investment in programs that help all children and youth get a good start. |
| C) Hiring of additional police officers. |
| D) Making parents legally liable when their children commit crimes. |
Percent of departments indicating the following policies are the "most effective"
Table 4(B)
4. Please rank each of the following policies on a scale of 1 to 4, giving a "1" to the policy you think is most effective and a "4" to the policy you think is the least effective according to their long-term effectiveness in reducing crime and violence. (please use each number only once)
| A) Trying more juveniles as adults, and sentencing more juveniles to adult prisons. |
| B) Increasing investment in programs that help all children and youth get a good start. |
| C) Hiring of additional police officers. |
| D) Making parents legally liable when their children commit crimes. |
Percent of departments indicating the following policies are the "most effective"
Policy |
Region |
|||
Northeast % |
South % |
Midwest % |
West % |
|
| A) Trying more juveniles as adults, and sentencing more juveniles to adult prisons. | 17 (n=129) |
26 (n=154) |
15 (n=158) |
6 (n=102) |
| B) Increasing investment in programs that help all children and youth get a good start. | 59 (n=129) |
65 (n=155) |
57 (n=160) |
74 (n=102) |
| C) Hiring of additional police officers. | 16 (n=129) |
21 (n=155) |
11 (n=159) |
17 (n=102) |
| D) Making parents legally liable when their children commit crimes. | 21 (n=127) |
24 (n=156) |
29 (n=159) |
20 (n=102) |
Graph 4(B)
4. Please rank each of the following policies on a scale of 1 to 4, giving a "1" to the policy you think is most effective and a "4" to the policy you think is the least effective according to their long-term effectiveness in reducing crime and violence. (please use each number only once)
| A) Trying more juveniles as adults, and sentencing more juveniles to adult prisons. |
| B) Increasing investment in programs that help all children and youth get a good start. |
| C) Hiring of additional police officers. |
| D) Making parents legally liable when their children commit crimes. |
Percent of departments indicating the following policies are the "most effective"
