An evaluation of Northeastern Ohio's Regional Criminal Justice Coordination Center

Abstract

Northeastern Ohio's Regional Criminal Justice Coordination Center began its operation in January, 1974 through the efforts of the Peace Officers of Lakeland Area (P.O.O.L.) Organization and Lakeland Community College of Mentor, Ohio. The project was originally scheduled to begin in 1973 but implementation was delayed until the hiring of a Criminal Justice Management Analyst whose duty was to direct the efforts of the Center. This project intended to help coordinate the efforts of police agencies in Northeastern Ohio and also to help improve the crime fighting potential of each individual agency in that area. The services offered by the Center in an attempt to fulfill these goals included acting as an information clearinghouse, a technical advisor, a coordinator of specialized programs and seminars, and an aid in the development of operational procedures. For the purpose of the research considered for this study, the Regional Criminal Justice Coordination Center was evaluated. Twenty-three police agencies in Northeastern Ohio were surveyed and three criteria were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the Center: awareness of the Center, utilization of the Center, and the success of the services of the Center in meeting the needs of the agencies. A postest-only research design was used since the project had been in operation for approximately eight months before methodology for an evaluation was established. An interview guide was developed to aid in the interviews of presentatives from each of the twenty-three agencies surveyed. With regard to awareness and utilization of the Center, three variables were controlled for in this study. They are as follows: the distance a department was located from the Center, the county in which a department was located, and the number of full-time sworn officers employed by each department. The data obtained indicated that (a) distance from the Center did not affect an agency's probability of being aware of the Center and utilizing its services, (b) the county in which a department was located did affect its awareness and utilization of the Center and (c) the size of a department influenced its probability of utilizing the services of the Center. The services offered by the Center appeared to be geared more toward meeting the needs of the larger departments than the smaller ones. The Center offered a great deal of technical assistance-type services which were utilized by the larger departments, but which were not useful for the smaller ones. The smaller departments saw more of a need for coordination-type services which would help them increase their effectiveness despite a small budget. It was concluded that the Regional Criminal Justice Coordination Center should re-evaluate the amount of effort that should be put forth in aiding smaller departments since they had little need for technical assistance, the area which dominated the service effort of the Center.