Police Chiefs See Drug Abuse as Cause of Violent Crime, New Survey Shows

LAW ENFORCEMENT April 1995

A new survey finds that police chiefs overwhelmingly believe that the way to reduce crime is to reduce drug abuse (Death Penalty Information Center, On the Front Line: Law Enforcement Views on the Death Penalty, 1995).

When asked what factors prevent police from doing a good job, 87% of police chiefs named drug and alcohol abuse as the top two or three problems, more than any other factor. 31% of police chiefs said that their primary focus in reducing violent crime is reducing drug abuse.

The study was commissioned by the Death Penalty Information Center and conducted by Peter D. Hart Research Associates in January 1995.

[To obtain a copy of this report, contact the Death Penalty Information Center at 1606 20th Street, NW, Second Floor, Washington, DC 20009, 202-347-2531. There is a $5 charge for the report.]