facility survey cover letter

Attachment 6: Facility Survey Cover letter

< <DATE>> <<SUID>>

<<TITLE>><<FNAME>> <<LNAME>> <<SUFFIX>>

Or Current <<TITLE>>

<<agcyname>>

<<ADDRESS>>

<<CITY, STATE ZIP>>

Dear <<TITLE>><<LNAME>>:

With funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), NORC at the University of Chicago (NORC) is conducting a study which examines the use of body armor within correctional facilities. This is critically important study that could help save the lives of correctional officers. The Officer Safety in Correctional Facilities Studywill provide the first nationally representative information on the use of body armor within correctional facilities. Data will be used to explore who uses body armor and the situations in which body armor is currently used. This is a two-stage study; the first stage collects facility level information from administrative records. The second stage will gather information from correctional officers. The results of the study will be presented to the corrections community and posted to NORC’s website (at www.norc.org )in summary form . Neither personal nor facility information will be identified in the final reports. Within the survey, you may indicate that you would like to receive a copy of the study results by e-mail. We are writing to request that the enclosed questionnaire be completed and returned to NORC. The questionnaire asks a brief series of questions; including incidents of assault on correctional officers, overall inmate demographics, officer health and policies related to wearing body armor within your facility. If you need assistance with the survey, please contact NORC by telephone (X), or e-mail (X). We also note that are no major risks or discomforts to you as a participant in this survey.

So that a random selection of correctional officers may be selected for the second stage of the study, we request that you provide a list of full-time correctional officers working in your facility as of XXXX. Provision of the following information for each officer will help NORC contact randomly selected officers: correctional officer name, gender, rank, badge or employee identification number, work contact information (telephone and address) and shift worked. We will randomly select 10 correctional officers from this list to participate in the correction officer study. Please fax the list of officer information to NORC at 1-8XX-XXX-XXXX. If you have any questions about transmitting this information to NORC or do not have access to a fax machine, please contact NORC at 1-8XX-XXX-XXXX.

Although this study is voluntary, we urgently need and appreciate your cooperation to make the results comprehensive, accurate, and timely. If you have questions about your rights as a study participant, you may call the NORC IRB Administrator, toll free, at 1-866-309-0542.

Sincerely,

NORC ACA ASCA

Facility—Cover Letter