BY Kirsten Eddy, Michael Lipka, Katerina Eva Matsa, Naomi Forman-Katz, Sarah Naseer, Christopher St. Aubin and Elisa Shearer

The more news about crime that Americans receive, the more likely they are to be concerned, angry or feel personally at risk, but large numbers of people are dissatisfied with the local crime news they get and just as many people get information about crime trends from people they know as from local news outlets, a new Pew Research Center report from the Pew-Knight Initiative has found.

The report, based on a survey in January of more than 5,000 randomly selected adults, found there is little difference between Republicans and Democrats in how they consume local crime information and how concerned they are about it, but Republicans are more likely than Democrats to view violent crime as a very big problem for the country as a whole, the study found.

While most respondents expressed interest in learning the details of crimes, tips about how to stay safe, and broader patterns in local crime, few of those who were interested said it is easy to find news and information about each topic

Washington, DC: Pew Research Center 2024, 47p.

By Peter Leasure and Hunter M. Boehme

Efforts such as evidence-based policing and data-driven policing have argued for the use of research and data analysis in the decision-making process for law enforcement agencies. The current study sought to examine the importance of data collection and data analysis across Ohio law enforcement agencies and whether Ohio law enforcement agencies are interested in improving their data collection and data analysis procedures. The results showed that the majority of respondents strongly agreed or somewhat agreed that data collection and data analysis are key components of their decision-making process, and that their agency could benefit from improved data collection and data analysis procedures. However, a nontrivial number of respondents strongly disagreed or somewhat disagreed that data collection and data analysis are key components of their decision-making process, and that their agency could benefit from improved data collection and data analysis procedures. Recommendations informed by these results are discussed in detail.

Drug Enforcement and Policy Center. July 2023, 8pg