MSHP News Release

MISSOURI STATE HIGHWAY PATROL
A Division Of The
Department of Public Safety
Public Information and Education Division - PO Box 568 - Jefferson City, MO 65102
NEWS RELEASE

For further information, please contact: Capt. John J. Hotz
Q11018 (573) 526-6115

January 10, 2018
EMPHASIS: Missouri Crime Victimization Survey Shows Favorable Views of Law Enforcement

A survey conducted by the University of Missouri Sociology Department and the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Statistical Analysis Center found that Missourians overwhelmingly hold favorable views of law enforcement. The survey was conducted in spring 2016 and surveyed 2,008 respondents across the state by phone.

The survey results show:

Approximately 90% of respondents rated the overall job performance of their local law enforcement as very good (28.8%), good (32.1%) or acceptable (28.7%). Just over 10% rated the performance as bad (5.8%) or very bad (4.5%).

Eighty-eight percent of respondents viewed law enforcement as very effective (36.3%) or effective (51.7%) when called for help. Twelve percent rated law enforcement as ineffective (8.6%) or very ineffective (3.4%).

Nearly 86% of respondents regarded law enforcement as very effective (33.7%) or effective (51.9%) in controlling violent crime. Less than 15% regarded law enforcement as ineffective (9.8%) or very ineffective (4.6%).

While the majority of respondents still considered law enforcement effective in controlling drugs, the percentage dropped to about 60 percent, with 15.3% viewing law enforcement as very effective and 44.6% viewing them as effective. The percentage that considered law enforcement ineffective in controlling drugs was 27.7%; 12.4% rated them very ineffective in controlling drugs.

The survey was conducted at a time of rising news coverage and awareness of the national opioid epidemic, which has continued. In Missouri and across the nation, the opioid crisis cuts across all demographic groups, including income; race; and urban, suburban, and rural geographic boundaries.

In July 2017, Gov. Eric Greitens announced a series of steps in an effort to address the opioid crisis, including an executive order creating a statewide prescription drug monitoring program to monitor prescribers and dispensers to find and eliminate bad actors in the system. The state has also received the Missouri Opioid-Heroin Overdose Prevention and Education (MO-HOPE) federal grant to reduce opioid overdose-related deaths. The state is partnering with the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse (NCADA) and the Missouri Institute for Mental Health (MIMH) to provide training, tools, and naloxone to emergency responders for overdose prevention.

Funding to support the Missouri Crime Victimization Survey was provided by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, U.S. Department of Justice, Report No. SRC-1611. The Missouri State Highway Patrol partnered with MU and the University of Wyoming to develop and conduct the survey, as well as analyze the data collected.

The findings and conclusions in the report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Missouri State Highway Patrol or the U.S. Department of Justice.

The survey results are available at http://www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/SAC/completed_project_960grid.html.

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