Survey on Street Disorder in Large Municipalities in the United States, 1994-1996

Résumé 0

The objective of this survey was to provide city officials and police with information on how to carry out street disorder enforcement strategies within the constitutional guidelines established by the courts. To that end, a survey of 512 municipal police departments was conducted in the spring of 1996. The agencies were asked to supply data for the current year as well as for 1994 and 1995. Information was collected on the existence of particular street disorder ordinances, when such ordinances were passed, the number of citations and arrests resulting from each ordinance, and whether the ordinances were challenged in court. Data covered the following types of street disorder: panhandling, open containers of alcohol, public intoxication, disorderly conduct, sleeping in public places, unregulated day labor solicitation, vending, dumpster diving, camping in public, and juvenile curfews. Departments were also asked about their written policies regarding certain types of street disorder. Other departmental information includes location, number of personnel, and population of jurisdiction.