A study of the resource utilization in some Ohio police departments as counter measure to certain victimless crimes

Abstract

This study was conducted to measure the resources utilized by ten police departments in Ohio to fight four victimless crimes (prostitution, drug abuse offenses, homosexuality, and gambling) and four series crimes (homicide, burglary, robbery and rape.) The resources utilized on selected victimless crimes were compared with resources utilized on selected serious crimes. The two primary goals of this study are: (1) to determine the amount of time and money assigned to fight each of theses selected crimes; (2) to obtain the views of some law enforcement officials concerning retaining or modifying each of the four victimless crimes in the criminal code.

A survey questionnaire was utilized in order to gather data from police administrators in ten police departments in Ohio. In developing the survey instrument suggestions were sought from police administrators, the researcher's graduate committee, and other knowledgeable persons in the criminal justice field. Prior to utilizing the survey questionnaire it was administered to Youngstown Police Department for purposes of determining its clarity. Changes were made accordingly.

The results of this study indicate that more police resources are being utilized to enforce the selected serious crime law than to enforce the selected victimless crimes. However, it was found that police to utilize a considerable amount of their available resources to combat certain victimless crimes. Police officials showed a strong sentiment for decriminalization of some of the victimless crimes.