2015_PPCS_OMB_Part A

Supporting Statement

A. Justification

1. Necessity of the Information Collection

We request clearance to conduct the 2015 Police Public Contact Survey (PPCS) as a supplement to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) to collect information about the nature and outcomes (i.e. arrest, ticket/warning) of the public’s contacts with the police. Contact with the police refers to voluntary contacts, such as residents seeking help or assistance from the police, and involuntary contacts, such as police approaching residents during a street or traffic stop. The NCVS and all related contacts and protocols for the 2015 collection year have been previously approved by OMB (OMB NO: 1121-0111), and this request is specifically for a supplemental data collection instrument that will be added to the approved NCVS core from July 2015 to December 2015. The PPCS is the only national survey that obtains data on the public’s perception of whether police use of force was excessive. The goal of the collection is to report national statistics that provide a better understanding of the types, frequency, and outcomes of contacts between the police and the public, public perceptions of police behavior during the contact, and the conditions under which force may be threatened or used.

BJS initially designed the PPCS in response to Congressional requirements that the Department of Justice report annually on police excessive use of force. Section 210402 of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (42 USC § 14142) mandated that the Attorney General collect data on the "use of excessive force by law enforcement officers" (see attachment 1) and publish an annual summary. The Act was initiated due to the lack of reliable data on the extent of excessive force used by law enforcement officers. In response to the Act, BJS designed the PPCS to obtain information directly from the public about their perceptions of excessive use of force by police (see attachment 2). There are no other current national data available to analyze the use of force, in particular non-lethal use of force, by law enforcement agencies.

The PPCS is administered to a nationally-representative sample of U.S. residents and collects data from residents about nonfatal use of force incidents, including the types of force police might have used and whether the respondent thought the amount of force used or threatened was excessive. Through surveys of residents, the PPCS collects data on a continuum of police uses of force, from shouting and cursing, to threats, to physical actions. For example, in the 2011 administration of the PPCS, about 6% of drivers stopped in traffic stops reported that they had force used against them, but only 1% of drivers experienced physical force. Also in the 2011 PPCS, one-third of stopped drivers who experienced the nonfatal use of force by police felt that the force was excessive, while two-thirds did not.

In addition to obtaining the public’s views on police use of force, the PPCS also collects data on the nature and prevalence of public contacts with police. This objective is central to BJS’s mission of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating statistics on the operations of the criminal justice system, as given in 42 U.S.C. § 3732 (attachment 2). Police contact represents the initial and most common interaction that most residents have with the criminal justice system. For example, in 2011, over 62.9 million U.S. residents had one or more contacts with police during the prior 12 months. Since police are the gateway into the system, information about rates of different types of contact is important for understanding criminal justice system resource allocation.

Recent homicides by law enforcement officers in Ferguson, MO and New York City highlighted what many commentators believed to be a racially-charged nature of police-public contacts. Although the events in these two incidents were ruled to be justifiable homicide incidents, they sparked vigorous discussions about race and policing. The PPCS addresses this issue directly by obtaining data on the demographic attributes of both the public persons who had contact and the officer(s) with whom they had contact. Although the incidents covered by the PPCS, such as traffic stops, as less serious than homicides, the PPCS data reveal that even among the household respondents to the NCVS that are surveyed in the PPCS there are racial differences in outcomes and perceptions of police behavior as legitimate. In the 2011 PPCS, for instance, a higher percentage of black drivers (13%) were pulled over by police in a traffic stop during their most recent contact than white (10%) and Hispanic (10%) drivers. White drivers pulled over by police were also more likely to believe the police behaved properly (89%) compared to black drivers (83%), and these perceptions varied with the race of the public person and race of the officer. A higher percentage of drivers pulled over by an officer of the same race or Hispanic origin (83%) thought the reason for the traffic stop was legitimate, compared to drivers pulled over by an officer of a different race or Hispanic origin (74%) Understanding these public perceptions of the legitimacy of police can be useful for explaining victim reporting of crime to the police. These police contacts represent a potential opportunity to build personal and public trust in the criminal justice system and enhance community efficacy and safety, or alternatively, to cause tension and erode public trust in the institutions charged to maintain law and order.

Because, the PPCS is administered within the NCVS, it will support BJS’s efforts to better understand the relationships between victims, the police, and community characteristics. BJS is currently administering a boost of the NCVS sample to obtain direct three-year rolling average crime rates in 11 states, and the PPCS will likewise be administered in these boosted areas. Because rates of contact with the police are high relative to victimization rates, BJS should be able to generate state and metropolitan area estimates from the PPCS directly. For instance, if it is assumed that the 2011 national rate of police contact of about 20% holds across states, the public in California would be expected to have nearly 6 million contacts with the police. Even in less populous states such as Ohio (with a population of about 9 million as compared to California’s 30 million), the national contact rate in 2011 would imply about 1.9 million persons with police contact during a 12-month period. Both of these estimates would have relative standard errors well under 10%. With the 2015 administration of the PPCS in the boosted areas, BJS will assess the reliability of one-year estimates of the rate of police contact by different types of contact for these 11 states. BJS will also examine the level of detail about the nature of these contacts that could be reliably generated.

The PPCS is unique in its ability to comprehensively provide these types of information. It is the only national collection on police contact from the perspective of citizens; the only national data collection that measures non-lethal use of force by police; the only national data collection that collects measures of police legitimacy; the only national data collection that can be used to assess racial disparities in contact with police and outcomes of contact with police; and the only data collection that can provide national estimates of the rate of searches during traffic stops and the prevalence of stop and frisk practices.

Experience collecting the PPCS since 1996

Since 1996, the PPCS has been administered six times on a periodic basis. In May, June, and July 1996, the BJS supplemented the NCVS with a pilot test of the first PPCS instrument designed to collect answers from respondents to a series of questions about the nature and consequences of their face-to-face interactions with the police. Findings from the first PPCS were reported in the November 1997 BJS-NIJ publication Police Use of Force: Collection of National Data (NCJ-165040). The survey findings revealed that 20 percent of the public had a direct, face-to-face contact with a police officer at least once during the year preceding the survey. Furthermore, the findings from this survey provided empirical information to help guide the development of an improved questionnaire on the topic. Following the initial PPCS implementation, the BJS redesigned the instrument to accomplish a number of objectives not addressed by the original survey instrument, particularly with respect to broadening the range of participants describing their interactions with the police.

The PPCS was once again conducted as a supplement to the NCVS between July 1, 1999 and December 31, 1999. An improved version of the survey instrument that included a new and more detailed set of questions about traffic stops by police was fielded among a national sample nearly 15 times as large as the pretest sample in 1996. Estimates of the prevalence and nature of contacts between the public and police from the 1999 survey were nearly identical to those obtained from the 1996 pretest. The findings from the 1999 PPCS were reported in the February 2001 BJS publication Contact between Police and the Public (NCJ-184957) and revealed that about 21 percent of the public had a direct, face-to-face contact with a police officer at least once during the year preceding the survey. The same PPCS instrument was repeated as a supplement to the NCVS between July 1, 2002 and December 31, 2002; July through December 2005; July through December 2008; and to about 15% of the sample in July through December 2011. The routine administration of the PPCS allowed for an examination of changes in the rate and nature of police contact over time.

In 2011, BJS redesigned the PPCS with the goals of providing stronger cues for respondents by using more specific questions about types of contact, gathering more data on voluntary contacts with police, improving the measurement of street stops (also known as ‘stop and frisks’), and collecting data on the interactions and behaviors between citizens and police. The 2011 PPCS was administered to a split sample of respondents (85% were administered the 2011 instrument while 15% were administered the prior years’ instrument) in order to test the impact of instrument changes on the rate of contact with police and to allow for the continued examination of trends in police contact over time. BJS is in the process of producing a technical report that provides trends in police contact from 1999 to 2011, adjusting for changes to the 2011 instrument where possible. Preliminary findings suggest that the revised screener resulted in a statistically significant increase in the rate of contact. However, once the prior year rates of contact are adjusted to account for the change, there was no statistically significant change in the rate of contact from 2008 to 2011.

Two additional reports examining the nature of police contact in 2011 were released in 2013: Police Behavior During Traffic and Street Stops, 2011 and Requests for Police Assistance, 2011. While the revised instrument provided valuable new data on the nature of street stops and resident requests for assistance from police, the analysis also revealed that the changes to the instrument resulted in an inability to generate an overall rate of use of force across all police contacts. The 2011 instrument only asked use of force questions of those respondents who reported a traffic stop or a street stop. Additionally, the new screener created uncertainty about how contacts resulting in arrest were classified by respondents. These and other issues with the 2011 instrument, which are detailed in Attachment 3, necessitated further changes to the instrument prior to the upcoming administration of the PPCS.

Given the issues with the 2011 instrument acknowledged above, BJS revised the 2011 instrument for the 2015 data collection. Information regarding the cognitive testing of the 2015 instrument is detailed later in this document in Part B, Item 4. With the 2015 instrument, BJS will continue to utilize a series of specific questions to collect information both on street stops and voluntary contacts with the police. The 2015 instrument also continues the use of a more extensive screener section so as to better capture the experiences of the public and direct the respondent toward relevant and salient questions to elicit as much information as possible regarding the contact with police.

For the 2015 instrument, the screener was expanded to ask respondents who report contact about the number of times the contact occurred during a 12-month period and whether any of those contacts resulted in an arrest. The inclusion of questions about the number of contacts makes it possible to generate an incident rate in addition to a prevalence rate, which is important for purposes of measuring disparities in the criminal justice system as well as better understanding the frequency of contact between the police and the public. For example, while the prevalence rate of whites and blacks stopped in traffic stops may be similar, it may also be the case that blacks are stopped more times during the year and have a higher intensity or incidence rate than whites. The revised instrument will now allow for this type of analysis.

Another of the major changes to the 2015 instrument is the administration of use of force questions to all respondents, regardless of the type of contact experienced during their most recent encounter with police. The revised 2011 instrument did not allow for an overall estimate of the use of force by police in all types of contact. The use of force by police is of particular interest to various stakeholders and has become an increasingly noteworthy topic given recent police arrest-related deaths in places such as Ferguson, Missouri and New York City, NY.

Additionally, improvements were made to questions about the characteristics of officers involved in contacts. The questions pertaining to the race and ethnicity of officers were adjusted to match questions from the NCVS on the race of offenders. This change allows for the more accurate identification of officer race in instances involving multiple officers. The addition of questions about officer gender also improve the ability to describe the demographics of police and assess the impact of officer and resident demographics on outcomes of contact.

Finally, the revised 2015 instrument will also improve the coverage and accuracy of the PPCS by administering the supplement to NCVS respondents who received the NCVS in a language other than English. Since its inception in 1996, the PPCS has only been administered to English-speaking respondents, thereby creating a problem with nonresponse bias among the Hispanic population in particular. Although Hispanics accounted for 14.3% of the population in 2011, they made up only 11.9% of respondents, meaning that the rate of nonresponse bias was -2.4% (see Attachment 4). The inclusion of non-English speaking respondents is expected to reduce this bias but could also have an impact on rates of contact. To account for this, rates of contact will be created for English speaking respondents separately to allow for examination of the impact of including non-English speakers. Because it is not anticipated that changes to the 2015 instrument will impact rates of contact with police, and respondents who received the NCVS and PPCS in a language other than English can be readily identified, it is not necessary to utilize a split-sample design in 2015.

We are requesting a one-year OMB clearance, from June 2015 through June 2016 to conduct the 2015 PPCS. The PPCS will be administered from July 2015 through December 2015. During this 6-month period, the revised supplement will be administered to all NCVS respondents age 16 or older, following the completion of the NCVS screener and the NCVS crime incident report (if applicable NCVS crimes were reported). The BJS is authorized to collect statistics on the operations of the criminal justice system under Title 42, United States Code, Section 3732 of the Justice Systems Improvement Act of 1979 (Attachment 2).

2. Uses of Information

The information generated by the prior waves of the PPCS has proven useful for informing research and policy discussions about some of the most salient and continuing controversies in criminal justice policy making—police use of force and excessive force, racial differences in the number and characteristics of traffic stops and searches, and public perceptions of police behavior during police- and resident-initiated contact. The information provided by residents contributes an independent source for systematic knowledge about the behavior of the police that is not dependent on official police records or self-reports from law enforcement officers.

Legislators, policymakers, researchers, members of the media, and the public have long recognized the need for the collection of routine national statistics on the use of force by police, and this call for statistical data was particularly pronounced in 2014 in response to incidents such as those occurring in Ferguson, MO. While much of the focus on this call for data has been on lethal force, prior iterations of the PPCS provide data demonstrating that lethal force only accounts for a small segment of all incidents of force. The PPCS is unique in that it provides data on the full continuum of police nonlethal force – from cursing and verbal threats of force, to pushing and shoving, punching and kicking, to the use of the baton, taser, or firearm. Together with law enforcement data on fatal force, the PPCS responds to the 1994 Crime Control Act requirement that the DOJ collect and disseminate data on police use of force.

The findings from the PPCS have been published in eight BJS reports which have been used by the media to improve the public’s awareness of the prevalence of nonfatal police use of force and issues related to racial profiling; used by researchers to examine topics such as public perceptions of racial profiling; used by legislators and policy makers to inform legislation on police reporting practices, and used by the law enforcement community to better understand public perceptions of police behavior and independent reports of use of force. The 2011 PPCS data, specifically, were used to develop two BJS reports concerning the topics of resident requests for police assistance and perceptions of police behavior during police-initiated contacts. The findings from these two reports were reported by numerous media sources and continued to be cited throughout 2014.

Uses of PPCS data

The PPCS data will allow BJS to address a number of issues, including the public’s perception of the police and their legitimacy, police use of force, racial differences in the outcomes of street stops, traffic stops, and searches, and public satistifaction with police responses to voluntary contacts. The list below details the type of information that will be available through the 2015 PPCS data.

Estimates that can be generated from the 2015 PPCS:

• Rate/percent of persons 16 or older who had contact with the police during the prior 12 months

• Average number of contacts among persons with police contact

• Percent of persons 16 or older experiencing different types of resident- and police-initiated contact with police (i.e. requests for assistance, traffic stop, street stop, etc.)

• Demographic characteristics of persons with different types of police contact

• Demographic characteristics of police officers involved in traffic and street stops

• Rate/percent of drivers 16 or older who were involved in a traffic stop

• Percent of traffic stops resulting in ticketing, search, or arrest by demographic characteristics of drivers and reasons for the stop

• Rate/percent of persons 16 or older who were stopped and searched by police

• Rate/percent of persons 16 or older against whom the police used or threatened to use force

• Rate/percent of type of force used or threatened against persons 16 or older

• Rate/percent of persons 16 or older who felt police behavior was appropriate

• Percent of persons with police-initiated contact who believed that the police acted respectfully during the contact

• Rate/percent of persons 16 or older who felt force used against them by police by excessive

• Rate/percent of persons 16 or older who engaged in provocative behavior during contact with police

• Rate/percent of persons experiencing arrest as a result of police contact

• Percent of resident-initiated police contacts that were conducted face-to-face

• Percent of persons who were satisfied with police response to requests for assistance

• Percent of persons with resident-initiated contact who expressed a willingness to contact the police again

Since the initiation of the collection in 1999, BJS has published 8 reports based on the PPCS data:

Durose, Matthew and Langton, Lynn (2013) Requests for Police Assistance, 2011.

Langton, Lynn and Durose, Matthew (2013) Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2011.

Eith, Christine and Durose, Matthew R. (2011) Contacts Between the Police and the Public, 2008.

Durose, Matthew R., Langan, Patrick A., and Smith, Erica L., (2007) Contacts Between the Police and the Public, 2005.

Durose, Matthew R. and Erica L. Smith (2006) Characteristics of Drivers Stopped by the Police, 2002.

Durose, Matthew R., Langan, Patrick A., and Smith, Erica, L. (2005) Contacts between Police and Public: Findings from the 2002 National Survey.

Durose, Matthew R., Langan, Patrick A., and Smith, Erica, L. (2002) Characteristics of Drivers Stopped by the Police, 1999.

Langan, Patrick A., Greenfeld, Lawrence A., Smith, Steven K. Durose,

Matthew, R., and Levin, David J. (2001) Contacts between Police and the

Public Findings from the 1999 National Survey.

Users of PPCS data

The findings from BJS publications (and from the findings generated from independent uses of the publicly archived data generated by these surveys) are widely cited in research and professional journals and in media accounts that inform public policy about the nature of contemporary policing. Data from the PPCS has been used in over 200 scholarly journal articles, law reviews, and dissertations. In addition, these surveys and the resulting reports are the basis for most of BJS’s responses to numerous public and press inquiries concerning traffic stops, searches and police uses of force.

In conformity with the principles for Federal Statistical Agencies and the Data Quality Guidelines, BJS provides access to fully documented copies of the data collected as part of the PPCS. These data are available to the public through the BJS supported National Archive of Criminal Justice Data at the University of Michigan: (http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/icpsrweb/NACJD/studies/34276).

As a result of the public availability of these data, several independent research articles whose primary source of data is the PPCS have been published in scientific journals. Published research utilizing the PPCS has contributed significantly to the field of Criminology in the areas of racial profiling, police procedures during traffic stops, police use of force, and residents’ perception of police after a contact. Three prominent examples include -

Engel, Robin S. and Calnon, J. M. (2004) Examining the Influence of Drivers’ Characteristics during Traffic Stops with Police: Results from a National Survey. Justice Quarterly, 21: 49-90.

Engel, Robin S. (2005) Citizens' Perceptions of Distributive and Procedural Injustice During Traffic Stops with Police, Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency 42: 445-481

Lundman, Richard J. and Kaufman, Robert L. (2003) Driving While Black: Effects of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender on Citizen Self-Reports of Traffic Stops and Police Actions, Criminology, 41:195-220.

As of December 2014, the Engel and Calnon article has been cited 142 times, the 2005 Engel article 133 times, and the Lundman and Kaufman article 160 times.

Because of the unique characteristics of the Police Public Contact Survey, the findings from this collection have also been used by government officials, law enforcement, researchers, and planners. Among the more notable uses of the data collection series is an explicit reference in HR 4611, the 2007 End Racial Profiling Act. The PPCS has also been useful to policymakers at the state level. For instance, Ralph Ioimo and his colleagues¹ designed and implemented a Virginia Police Public Contact Survey from which they could compare state-specific findings to those reported by BJS for the nation.

3. Use of Information Technology

The PPCS will be conducted in a fully automated interviewing environment using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) methods whereby field representatives use a laptop computer to display questions and record answers. The use of CAPI technologies reduces data collection costs as well as respondent and interviewer burden. Furthermore, automated instruments afford the opportunity to implement inter-data item integrity constraints, which minimize the amount of data inconsistency. More consistent data, in turn, reduces the need for extensive post-data collection editing and imputation processes which will significantly reduce the time needed to release the data for public consumption. The use of technology results in more accurate data products that are delivered in a more timely fashion, giving data users access to information while it is still relevant.

4. Efforts to Identify Duplication

A review of the relevant literature has confirmed that there will be no duplication of effort based on the nature and scope of this data collection. The information sought is not attainable from any other data source. Similar studies collecting data on contacts with police are conducted at the local level, but there are no other data collection efforts utilizing a nationally representative sample with estimates generalizable to the entire country. There is also no identified duplication with any other Office of Justice Programs or Department of Justice data collections.

This collection will add to the current PPCS series, which began with a pilot test conducted in 1996 and national collections in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2008, and 2011. The results from this survey provide estimates of the prevalence of citizen contacts with police, including contacts involving stop and frisk and police use of force, as well as racial discrepancies in stops and outcomes. Currently there are no other information sources collecting data on this subject.

5. Efforts to Minimize Burden

The NCVS is a household-based sample and does not impact small businesses or small entities. To minimize the burden for individual respondents and reduce nonresponse rates, supplemental questionnaires like the PPCS are designed to take no longer than 15 minutes to administer.

Field representatives (FRs) will alert respondents to the additional burden from the supplement at the beginning of the NCVS interview. The field representatives will be instructed to inform respondents that “From time to time, the Justice Department collects information on special topics like school crime or identity theft. For the next 6 months, there is a special topic collection on police public contact that will take, on average, about 10 minutes.”

The 2015 PPCS will be conducted in a fully automated interviewing environment using computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI). This is a result of the migration of the NCVS to a fully automated CATI and CAPI interviewing environment in July 2006. The NCVS discontinued its CATI operation in July 2007 due to budgetary reasons. Prior to July 2006, the NCVS and any periodic supplements used two modes of data collection, paper-and-pencil interviewing (PAPI) and DOS-based computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI).

The paper and pencil modality (PAPI) was eliminated in January 2006 (after the 2005 PPCS collection). Centralized CATI was eliminated in July 2007 (before the 2008 PPCS). Since July 2007, approximately a third of the NCVS interviews are conducted face-to-face in the sampled households (including all first interviews, all replacement households and all households requiring personal contact to obtain a response). This proportion has remained nearly constant since 2005.

While centralized CATI was eliminated (due to cost consideration), decentralized CATI (from the FR’s home) was continued. Approximately two-thirds of NCVS interviews are collected using this mode. BJS does not intend to change the relative use of these modes for the 2015 PPCS. There are no expected mode effects between the 2011 and 2015 collections that could impact change estimates.

The current use of CAPI technologies reduces both respondent and interviewer burden. Furthermore, automated instruments afford the opportunity to implement inter-data item integrity constraints at the time of interview that minimize data inconsistency. More consistent data, in turn, reduces the need for extensive post-data collection editing and imputation processes, which significantly reduce the time needed to release the data for public consumption. The use of technology results in more accurate data products that are delivered in a more timely fashion.

Every effort is taken to ensure that the information collection minimizes respondent burden while simultaneously fulfilling all program objectives. To minimize respondent burden and nonresponse on supplements to the NCVS, supplemental questionnaires are designed to take no longer than 10 to 15 minutes to administer. For the PPCS, there are two types of interviews: a short interview consisting only of the screener questions and a long interview that is the complete questionnaire. The short interview consists of a brief 3-minute screener and captures information on whether the respondent had contacts with police in the past 12 months, and if so whether that contact was in person, how many in person contacts of that type occurred during the past 12 months, whether certain contacts resulted in an arrest, and, if there was more than one contact, which was the most recent. If the respondent reports having contact with police in the past 12 months, he or she will then be tracked into the appropriate section of the PPCS questionnaire and be asked questions specific to a street stop, traffic stop, or voluntary contact based on the most recent contact reported in the screener. The screener and the more detailed questions on the most recent contact constitutes a long interview, which is expected to take 10 minutes.

Because of the approximately 20% percent increase in sample size of the NCVS due to the sample boost in 11 states, as well as a one minute increase in the length of the short interview, the overall burden of the PPCS will increase. The individual respondent burden of those completing the long interview will remain unchanged (at 10 minutes in length).

6. Consequences of Less Frequent Collection

The supplement will be conducted from July through December 2015. Regular inclusion of this supplement into the NCVS is typically on a triennial basis. In the case of the 2015 PPCS, it will be four years since the last PPCS collection. The PPCS was delayed from 2014 to 2015 to allow for further exploration of the impact of the changes that were made to the instrument between 2008 and 2011. The changes that were made to the instrument for 2011 along with the split sample design led to some unexpected issues; as such, the survey was delayed from 2014 to 2015 to address and resolve these issues for the upcoming iteration.

There are no other current national data available to analyze the use of force, in particular non-lethal use of force, by law enforcement agencies. Less frequent collection of the PPCS data would limit the utility of the data. Stakeholders, including policy-makers, law enforcement agencies, and the media, rely on timely data. When more time passes between collections, the published reports seem dated and are less used. The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 suggested that data on excessive force should be collected and reported on on a more frequent basis (annually) than the PPCS is currently administered. Less frequent collection would limit the ability to present timely statistics on and assess trends in the use of non-fatal forceby law enforcement. Additionally, less frequent collection would limit the ability of states to use this data as a benchmark to determine how traffic stops and rates of other contact in their state compare to the national picture.

7. Special circumstances that would increase respondent burden

There are no special circumstances that would increase respondent burden.

8. Federal Register Publication and Consultations Outside the Agency

The research under this clearance is consistent with the guidelines in 5 CFR 1320.6. Comments on this data collection effort were solicited in the Federal Register for a 60 and 30 day period. No comments were received in response to the information provided.

The Census Bureau, the BJS, contractors from the Research Triangle Institute and outside experts have collaborated over the years to develop the questions and procedures used to collect this supplemental information. For the 2015 PPCS, principal consultants from the BJS were Dr. William Sabol, Dr. Michael Planty, Dr. Lynn Langton, Mr. Matthew Durose, and Ms. Elizabeth Davis. Principal persons consulted from the Census Bureau included Ms. Meagan Meuchel, Mr. William Samples, Mr. Christopher Seamands, and Ms. Theresa DeMaio. From the Research Triangle Institute, Dr. Marcus Berzofsky, Dr. Christopher Krebs, Dr. Glynis Ewing, and Dr. Matthew DeMichele provided review and assessment of the issues that arose with the 2011 instrument and the subsequent corrections made to the 2015 instrument.

The 2011 PPCS, which was comprised of most of the same questions as the 2015 PPCS, was also reviewed by a number of external experts. In March 2010, BJS hosted a working group meeting to discuss the 2011 revisions to the PPCS. Participants included subject matter experts from academia and research professionals. Participants discussed a variety of topics, including survey content, data availability, clarity of instructions, methods to maximize response and ways to minimize respondent burden. Their feedback was incorporated into the 2011 instrument and by extension into the 2015 instrument.

Attendees of the PPCS working group meeting included –

Robert Davis

RAND

Wesley Skogan

Northwestern University

Robin Engel

University of Cincinnati

Tom Tyler

New York University

Matthew Zingraff

George Mason University

Steven Mastrofski

George Mason University

Additional members of the Criminal Justice community who provided feedback and comments on drafts of the revised 2011 Police Public Contact Survey Questionnaire included –

John Eck

University of Cincinnati

John MacDonald

University of Pennsylvania

Charles Klahm, IV

St. Joseph’s University (NY)

Lorie Fridell

University of South Florida

Samuel Walker

University of Nebraska, Omaha

Edward Maguire

American University

Barry Ruback

Penn State University

Alexis Piquero

Florida State University

Geoffery Alpert

University of South Carolina

9. Paying Respondents

Incentive payments or gifts to respondents to encourage participation are not provided.

10. Assurance of Confidentiality

All information that can identify individuals will be held strictly confidential by the Census Bureau and the BJS according to the provisions stated in Title 13, United States Code, Section 9, and Title 42, United States Code, Sections 3789g and 3735. Only Census Bureau employees sworn to preserve this confidentiality, with a need to know, may access and review PPCS data. The respondents are assured confidentiality and informed that their participation is voluntary in a letter from the Director of the Census Bureau (see attachment 5)

11. Justification for Sensitive Questions

No questions relating to sexual behaviors, religious beliefs, or other matters commonly considered private or of a sensitive nature are asked in these supplemental questions.

12. Estimate of Respondent Burden

The yields we receive from the NCVS sample in quarters 1 and 2, 2014 were used to develop projected burden hour estimates for the 2015 PPCS. These were the most

up-to-date data available at the time this estimate was produced. The quarters 1 and 2, 2014 household and person counts were adjusted to reflect the BJS’s pilot sample boost, currently ongoing in 11 states. It is expected that a total of 85,176 households will be in the NCVS sample in 2015, and approximately 60,305 of these households will be interviewed.

We expect the 60,305 interviewed NCVS households to yield:

Total persons 16+: 114,579

Interviewed 16+: 91,663

NCVS Type Z 16+: 22,916

2011 PPCS Results²

Total PPCS records 62,280

Interviews 49,246 79.1% (Of total PPCS records)

Short 37,159 75.5% (No police contact)

Long 12,087 24.5% (Police contact)

Noninterviews 13,034 20.9% (Of total PPCS records)

2008 PPCS Results

Total PPCS records 72,566

Interviews 57,978 79.9% (Of total PPCS records)

Short 48,429 83.5% (No police contact)

Long 9,549 16.5% (Police contact)

Noninterviews 14,588 20.1% (Of total PPCS records)

A short PPCS interview is one that screens the respondent out of the supplement if the respondent did not experience any contact with the police during the reference period. Due to the addition of questions to the 2015 PPCS screener, the burden for each short interview is expected to increase from 2 minutes in 2011 to 3 minutes in 2015 (0.05 hours).

A long PPCS interview, conversely, is an interview where the respondent did experience contact with the police during the reference period. For 2015, each long interview is expected to take 10 minutes or .167 hours, which is unchanged from 2011.

2015 Hour Burden Estimate Projection

The final hour burden estimate assumes that the total NCVS sample from July through December 2015 will be approximately 85,176 households yielding approximately 114,579 persons 16 years of age and older. Based on the 2011 PPCS results, we expect an 80 percent response rate for the PPCS which translates into 91,663 interviews and 22,916 noninterviews. Of the 91,663 PPCS interviews, it is expected that approximately 80 percent will have no police contact (short interview) and the other 20 percent will have police contact (long interview).

	Number of PPCS persons	Time per interview	Burden hours (A x B)
Total expected PPCS eligible persons	114,579
Expected PPCS interviews	91,663
Expected PPCS short interviews	73,330	.05 hours	3,367 hours
Expected PPCS long interviews	18,333	.167 hours	3,055 hours
Expected PPCS noninterviews	22,916
2015 PPCS burden hours estimate			6,722 hours
2011 PPCS burden hours on file			5,626 hours
Change in respondent burden hours from 2011 to 2015			1,096 hours

13. Estimate of Respondents’ Cost Burden

There are no costs to respondents other than that of their time to respond.

14. Estimated Cost to Federal Government

BJS Cost Estimate Summary

These costs include $94,540 for data collection of the 2015 Police Public Contact Survey, overall program management, data analysis, publication review and dissemination by BJS:

Table 2: Estimated costs for the 2015 Police Public Contact Survey.

Staff Salaries
	GS-15 Supervisory Statistician (10%) GS-14 Statistician (15%) GS-12 Statistician (25%)		$13,466 17,250 21,641
	GS-13 Technical Editor (3%)		3,088
	GS-12 Production Editor (2%)		1,731
	GS-13 Digital Information Specialist (2%)		2,059
	Salary Subtotal		$59,235
Benefits
	Fringe Benefits (33% of salaries) Administrative Costs (20% of salaries and fringe)		$19,548 $15,757
	Total Estimated Costs		$94,540

Data Collection Agent Cost Summary

The U.S. Census Bureau will act as the data collection agent for the 2015 PPCS. Under two Interagency Agreements (IAAs), the 2011 PPCS IAA with a period of performance of September 1, 2010 through June 30, 2014 and the 2013 NCVS IAA with period of performance of August 10, 2012 through September 30, 2016 Census will develop, test, and finalize the 2015 PPCS survey instrument, develop all data collection support and training materials, train interviewers and support staff, and collect, process, and disseminate the 2015 PPCS data. The total estimated costs of all these activities is $646,235. The BJS will bear all costs.

Census Bureau Costs
Division	Estimated Cost
CSM (Cognitive Testing)	$47,191
DSMD (Sample Design and Estimation)	$55,092
TMO (Instrument Development)	$47,936
DSD (Data Processing)	$124,769
FLD (Data Collection)	$153,966
ADDP (Survey Operations and Project Management)	$217,281
Census Subtotal	$646,235

15. Reasons for Change in Burden

Due to the previously discussed increase in the NCVS sample size in the 11 states with boosted sample, the inclusion of non-English speaking NCVS respondents in the PPCS sample, the additional minute of burden added to the short interview, and new phased in NCVS cases due to the decennial sample redesign we expect a 1,096 hour increase from the respondent burden hours requested in 2011. The 91,663 PPCS respondents anticipated in 2015 reflects an increase in the actual number of PPCS respondents in 2011 but a decline from the 96,747 respondents formally approved for the 2011 PPCS through the Notice of OMB Action (ICR Reference Number 201104-1121-003). In 2011, there was a discrepancy between the anticipated number of respondents (72,560) and burden hours (4,322) described in the Part A Supporting Statement and the number of respondents (96,747) and burden hours (5,626) formally requested through ROCIS. It is unclear why the number of requested burden hours and respondents did not align with the number anticipated in the OMB supporting statement. However, as noted previously, several changes to the core NCVS and the PPCS since 2011 should result in an increased number of respondents and burden hours.

The NCVS state sample boost resulted in a 20% increase in the total annual sample, from 201,400 to 240,200 respondents, which corresponds to an increase from 68,905 to 80,450 total sample hours (see Notice of OMB Action; ICR Reference Number 201305-1121-002). The PPCS will be administered at the end of the NCVS core survey to persons 16 or older, including persons in the sample boost. Based on the boost to the total NCVS sample, it is assumed the PPCS sample will likewise increase by about 20% and with the addition of new phased in sample redesign cases and inclusion of non-English speaking respondents the total number of eligible respondents will increase from 78,000 to 114,579 respondents (this includes eligible non-respondents).

Assuming that the 2015 PPCS experiences similar response rates in core and sample boost areas as prior iterations of the PPCS, about 80%, or 91,663 of the 114,579 eligible respondents will be interviewed. Based on 2011 PPCS data it is further assumed that about 20% of the 91,663 interviewed respondents will have experienced police contact and therefore follow the long interview path in the questionnaire. The remaining 80% will not have experienced contact and, as such, will follow the short interview path. The short interview path requires about 3 minutes to complete and the long interview path requires approximately 10 minutes. Total expected respondent burden is therefore calculated as:

91,663 X (.2) X (.167 hours) + 91,663 X (.8) X (.05 hours) = 6,722 total hours. This represents an increase of 2,400 from the 4,322 hours previously requested.

16. Project Schedule and Publication Plan

BJS originally planned to field the PPCS as a supplement to the 2014 NCVS data collection. However, as BJS produced reports from the 2011 PPCS, it discovered the aforementioned shortcomings with the instrument. BJS delayed the PPCS collection to 2015 to give itself time to effectively address the issues from the 2011 instrument.

The Census Bureau has conducted cognitive testing with the revised PPCS instrument. Details pertaining to cognitive testing are included in Part B, Item 4.

The schedule for the 2015 PPCS is as follows, the dates of which are good faith estimates and are subject to change:

• May 2015: Completion of the development and testing by the Census Bureau of the CAPI instrument, ensuring that it functions as designed and that all survey skip patterns have been properly programmed. This testing will be done in consultation with BJS

• June 2015: The Census Bureau will develop and distribute all training materials to their field representatives

• July 2015 – December 2015: Interviews for the 2015 PPCS will be conducted by the Census Bureau field representatives

  • During the interview period, the Census Bureau will provide the BJS with monthly reports on response rates, contact ‘hit rates,’ and the number of interviews conducted in a language other than English.

• August 2015 – March 2016: Data processing will take place on an ongoing basis

• March 2016: Computer-based clerical editing and coding, if required, will be completed

• April 2016: Computer processing, editing, imputation, and weighting of the data will be completed

• June 2016: The Census Bureau will prepare and deliver a 2015 PPCS public uses file and accompanying file documentation to BJS

BJS will be responsible for the statistical analysis and publication of the data from the 2015 PPCS. Contingent on the processing and delivery of the final data file, BJS anticipates releasing several reports on the prevalence and characteristics of contact between the police and the public by December 2016. First, BJS anticipates releasing a data brief on nonfatal use of force, tentatively titled Police Use of Nonfatal Force, that covers:

• The rate of residents experiencing use of force by police

• The rate of residents experiencing use of excessive force by police

• Characteristics of residents who experienced use of force by police

• Characteristics of officers who used force againsts residents.

Second, BJS plans to release a report tentatively titled, Perceptions of Police Behavior during Traffic and Street Stops, 2015, that examine perceptions of police legitimacy and behavior and satistifaction with police. This report will include:

• The percent of persons with contact who believed the police behaved properly

• The percent of drivers pulled over who thought the reason for the stop was legitimate

• Satisfaction with the police response to requests for assistance

• Likelihood of contacting the police again in the future

• The percent of persons with contact who filed a complaint against police.

Finally, BJS intends to release a report looking at racial differences in the reasons for and outcomes of traffic strops. This report tentatively titled, Traffic Stops and Driver Race, will present statistics on:

• The prevalence and incidence of traffic stops by race of driver and race of officer

• Reasons for traffic stops by race of driver and race of officer

• Outcomes of different traffic stops (warning, ticketing, search, seizure) by race of driver

• The rate of residents arrested during traffic stops by race of driver

• The rate of use of force against drivers in traffic stops, by race of driver.

The data will be archived for public download and use at the University of Michigan Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) immediately following the publication of the BJS report.

All public use data files will then be made available to the public through the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) and through Data.gov.

17. Display of Expiration Date

The OMB approval number and expiration date will be displayed on the PPCS introduction screen within the CAPI instrument. The final production PPCS CAPI instrument for July 2015 will be delivered for production to Census Systems in early June 2015.

18. Exceptions to the Certification Statement

There are no exceptions.

1 Ioimo, et al (2008) The Citizen’s View of Biased Policing, Professional Issues in Criminal Justice, 3: 1-13.

2 During 2011, BJS implemented a new field representative (FR) refresher training and routine observation program. The program was implemented with a split sample of respondents to assess whether the training and observation was rate effecting. Due to the impact on rates, cases collected by trained FRs were removed from the NCVS data file and the PPCS file resulting in lower numbers of eligible and interviewed persons in the PPCS than anticipated in the original 2011 burden hour calculations.