• Criminal Justice
• WSICOP
• WRICOPS

Executive abstract & highlights

Findings from the 1997 Boise Police Department Crime and Criminal Justice Survey

• The most serious concerns in Boise are vandalism (33.2%) followed by drunk drivers (32.3%) and a tie between noise and homes being broken into (29%).

• Close to 85% of those surveyed believe that COP sounds like the direction all police will have to take to reduce drugs, gangs, and crime.

• A high level of support for COP program elements is present. 76.6% of respondents feel that working more with the public rather than the focus on catching criminals is an essential element of COP. There is also high support for citizen co-production of order with police (96.4%).

• 78.1% of respondents believe that a good police officer is one who maintains the peace by using creativity to solve problems related to public safety and close to 73% feel that making frequent arrests does not help good police officers maintain the peace.

• The comparative level of trust in professional competence for Boise police officers is 93.7% compared to 90.2 % for public school teachers, 71.7% for state government officials, and 71.7% for city government officials.

• There is an intermediate level of social capital in Boise. There is an adequate level of volunteerism and neighboring attitudes and citizens have a strong sense of attachment to community.

• Global perceptions of Boise police officers exceeds those within the five-state region with 57.3% interested in the problems of the Boise PD compared to 40.7% within the five-state sample. 37.3% of respondents believe friendship between Cops and citizens is easy to develop compared to 29.1% within the five-state region.