Police referral practices and social service agency practices in three metropolitan areas, 1977

The dataset contains two related studies conducted in the metropolitan areas of St. Louis, Missouri, Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida, and Rochester, New York. The study of police referral practices provides information on the types of calls made to police departments, the referrals made to social service agencies from these calls, and the pattern of citizen demands. Data for this study were collected from 26,465 calls for police service at 21 police departments. The 36 variables include the nature of the call, characteristics of the caller, and the type of agency receiving the referral. The sampling frame for the study of social service agency practices was any agency within the three metropolitan areas that agreed to participate in the study, accepted police referrals, and dealt with at least one of ten selected social problems (e.g., drug abuse, suicide prevention, aid to the elderly). The study classifies agencies according to the extent of their cooperation with the police, the range of the social services they provide, and their history of service provision. Budget information was also obtained to calculate the costs of alternative methods of social service delivery.