Drizzt
Member
New Poll Says Police Chiefs Expect Trouble
Posted June 15, 2004
The National Association of Chiefs of Police recently released its 16th Annual Survey of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs and, according to Vice President and Public Affairs Specialist Jim Kouri, some of the survey findings are surprising and compelling.
"The survey had some surprising results on topics including terrorism, gun control, homeland security, drug enforcement and others," says Kouri.
Kouri asserts that the public perception of how police view certain issues is based on media coverage, which is not necessarily accurate. "When police chiefs and sheriffs are allowed to respond to poll questions anonymously, the politics may be removed from their answers," claims Kouri.
Terrorism: When asked if the United States would be attacked by terrorists within the next year, 88.2 percent said yes. Meanwhile 64 percent of police commanders said they received training and other resources from the federal government to combat terrorism, while only 42 percent said their departments participated in terrorism-response simulations.
Homeland Security: When police commanders were asked if they observed more cooperation between federal and local agencies, 69.8 percent said yes. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents stated they found the color-coded threat matrix an effective way of informing the public of terrorist threats. When asked if the process of arming commercial airline pilots is too burdensome, 53.6 percent of the police executives answered yes.
Gun Control: With regard to private citizens owning firearms for sport or self-defense, 94 percent of the respondents supported civilian gun-ownership rights. Ninety-six percent of the police chiefs and sheriffs believe criminals obtain firearms from illegal sources and 91 percent revealed they hadn't arrested anyone for violation of the so-called "waiting period" laws. When asked if they opposed citizens obtaining concealed-weapons permits, only 34 percent said yes.
War on Drugs: Forty percent of police commanders surveyed said they believe marijuana should be available for medicinal purposes and 62.6 percent said they've seen an increase in the abuse of prescription drugs such as Oxycontin and other Schedule II drugs. A mere 17 percent of police commanders believe the war on drugs has been successful.
Police News Coverage: An overwhelming 92.2 percent believe the news media is not fair and balanced in their coverage, while 70.5 percent said they have at least one officer assigned to handle media requests.
Other Topics: With regard to criminal (racial) profiling, 67.5 percent stated they had a written and enforced policy prohibiting such profiling. Only 23 percent of the respondents felt that civilian-review boards are effective in handling citizen complaints against police officers, while 57.8 said their subordinates attended sensitivity training classes.
http://www.insightmag.com/news/2004...ays.Police.Chiefs.Expect.Trouble-687719.shtml
I find a lot of this to actually be pretty encouraging.
Posted June 15, 2004
The National Association of Chiefs of Police recently released its 16th Annual Survey of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs and, according to Vice President and Public Affairs Specialist Jim Kouri, some of the survey findings are surprising and compelling.
"The survey had some surprising results on topics including terrorism, gun control, homeland security, drug enforcement and others," says Kouri.
Kouri asserts that the public perception of how police view certain issues is based on media coverage, which is not necessarily accurate. "When police chiefs and sheriffs are allowed to respond to poll questions anonymously, the politics may be removed from their answers," claims Kouri.
Terrorism: When asked if the United States would be attacked by terrorists within the next year, 88.2 percent said yes. Meanwhile 64 percent of police commanders said they received training and other resources from the federal government to combat terrorism, while only 42 percent said their departments participated in terrorism-response simulations.
Homeland Security: When police commanders were asked if they observed more cooperation between federal and local agencies, 69.8 percent said yes. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents stated they found the color-coded threat matrix an effective way of informing the public of terrorist threats. When asked if the process of arming commercial airline pilots is too burdensome, 53.6 percent of the police executives answered yes.
Gun Control: With regard to private citizens owning firearms for sport or self-defense, 94 percent of the respondents supported civilian gun-ownership rights. Ninety-six percent of the police chiefs and sheriffs believe criminals obtain firearms from illegal sources and 91 percent revealed they hadn't arrested anyone for violation of the so-called "waiting period" laws. When asked if they opposed citizens obtaining concealed-weapons permits, only 34 percent said yes.
War on Drugs: Forty percent of police commanders surveyed said they believe marijuana should be available for medicinal purposes and 62.6 percent said they've seen an increase in the abuse of prescription drugs such as Oxycontin and other Schedule II drugs. A mere 17 percent of police commanders believe the war on drugs has been successful.
Police News Coverage: An overwhelming 92.2 percent believe the news media is not fair and balanced in their coverage, while 70.5 percent said they have at least one officer assigned to handle media requests.
Other Topics: With regard to criminal (racial) profiling, 67.5 percent stated they had a written and enforced policy prohibiting such profiling. Only 23 percent of the respondents felt that civilian-review boards are effective in handling citizen complaints against police officers, while 57.8 said their subordinates attended sensitivity training classes.
http://www.insightmag.com/news/2004...ays.Police.Chiefs.Expect.Trouble-687719.shtml
I find a lot of this to actually be pretty encouraging.
:banghead: