Form NHTSA Form No. 140 NHTSA Form No. 140 Survey of LEL Supervisors

Survey of LEL Supervisors in Agencies that Sponsor Law Enforcement Liaisons

OMB Control NO. XXXXXX

Expiration Date: XX/XX/XXXX

Survey of LEL Supervisors in State Highway Safety Offices and Other Organizations Who Sponsor Law Enforcement Liaisons

Conducted for

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

and the Governors Highway Safety Association

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) are inviting you to participate in a survey about Law Enforcement Liaisons (LELs) and traffic safety. This survey is being conducted for NHTSA and GHSA by TransAnalytics. LELs play an important role in promotion and support of traffic safety throughout the United States. The purpose of this survey is to collect information on the various ways LEL programs are organized and the ways LELs and their sponsors (State Highway Safety Offices and other agencies) interact to promote and support their traffic safety efforts. This information will help us better understand the roles of LELs and the challenges and issues they experience, so that NHTSA and the GHSA can better assist LELs in carrying out their mission.

This survey is directed to the person in your office that supervises LELs. If you choose to participate, you will be asked questions about your State’s LEL program and LEL related activities. In order to get a comprehensive understanding of LEL programs and experiences, NHTSA and GHSA are asking for the participation of all State sponsors of LELs in this survey. The survey will take about 30-45 minutes to complete.

TransAnalytics and NHTSA will have access to the survey data, but NHTSA and GHSA will never have access to your name, address or any other information that personally identifies you.

It is also important that you know:

• There are no right or wrong answers.

• Your responses will be treated in a secure and confidential manner.

• Survey reports will present all findings as a whole, so individual responses cannot be identified.

• You might be uncomfortable answering some of these questions.

• Your participation in this survey is voluntary. You may skip any questions that you do not want to answer or stop answering at any point.

• If you have questions about the study please call the TransAnalytics Principal Investigator, Lawrence Decina at 215-538-3820, ext. 102.

• If you have questions about your rights as a research participant, please call the toll-free number for the Chesapeake Institutional Review Board, 1-877-992-4724, or email [email protected] and refer to this protocol number: xxxxxxx.

These questions will confirm whether you are eligible to complete the rest of this survey.

Please check () the best answer and follow the instructions appropriate to your response.

A. Are you the person to whom this survey was addressed?

____ Yes (Please continue to Question B)

____ No (You are not eligible to complete the survey. Thank you for your time)

Law Enforcement Liaisons (LELs) serve as an intermediary between the State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs) or other organizations and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs). LELs work to promote and support traffic safety by working with LEAs and related organizations to increase participation in NHTSA-funded traffic safety programs. While most of these positions are called Law Enforcement Liaisons, in some States they are State employees called Traffic Safety Specialists, Program Managers, Grants Managers, or Program Coordinators. They may also have other job titles.

B. Do you manage or supervise the LELs in your State (or those who serve in a position that performs similar duties)?

____ Yes (Please continue to Question C)

____ No (You are not eligible to complete the survey. Thank you for your time)

C. Are you willing to complete the survey?

____ Yes (Thank you for your willingness to participate).

____ No (Thank you for your time.)

SECTION A: GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE LEL POSITIONS UNDER YOUR SPONSORSHIP

Your responses to the questions in this section will help us understand how the LELs are organized in your State, their work environments, and their coverage areas.

1. Select the title of the people in your State who are the intermediaries between the State Highway Safety Office and Law Enforcement Agencies, who promote and support traffic safety and increase participation in NHTSA-funded traffic safety programs (check one):

___ Law Enforcement Liaison (LEL)

___ Traffic Safety Specialist (TSS)

___ Program Manager

___ Grants Manager

___ Program Coordinator

___ Other (identify title)___________________________________________________

The remaining questions in this survey will refer to these individuals as “Law Enforcement Liaisons” (LELs)

2. State LELs work for a number of different employers. Although most State LELs work directly for their State Highway Safety Office (SHSO), some LELs work for both their SHSO and a law enforcement agency. In a few States, LELs are employed by non-profit associations, Universities, and other Government Departments (e.g., Department of Health).

What organization or agency sponsors the LELs in your State?

(Check all that apply. If more than one, please explain)

___ State Highway Safety Office

___ Non-Profit Organization/Association

___ Law Enforcement Agency

___ Academic Institution

___State Commission

___ Other (explain)___________________________________________

3. How many LEL-type positions (including both full-time and part-time positions) are there in your State?

(Enter total number) _____

4. Indicate how many of your State’s LEL positions are full time and how many are part time.

Number of full-time LELs: ____

Number of part-time LELs: ____

5. Indicate approximately how many hours the full-time and part-time LELs perform LEL duties each week.

Average number of hours per week for full-time LELs: ____

Average number of hours per week for part-time LELs: ____

6. Is there a written position description for the LELs in your State? (Check one)

___ Yes

___ No

If Yes to Question 6:

6a. Was the LEL Model Position Description used as a guide for creating your State’s LEL position description? (Check one)

___ Yes

___ No

7. How important do you believe the following characteristics are for enabling LELs to meet their LEL job responsibilities? (For each item below, check a category from 1 = “Not important at all,” to 5 = “Absolutely Essential”)

Characteristics	1 Not Important at All	2 Slightly Important	3 Moderately Important	4 Very Important	5 Absolutely Essential
7a. Graduation from an accredited law enforcement agency (e.g., a “peace officer” certification, in some States)
7b. Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college/university
7c. Law enforcement supervisory, administrative, and/or command level position and experience
7d. Demonstrated knowledge, understanding, and application of State traffic safety laws
7e. Traffic law enforcement experience
7f. Knowledge of general police methods, practices and procedures
7g. Knowledge of State highway safety grant programs and administration
7h. Prior experience in your assigned highway safety program area(s)
7i. Specific jurisdictional crash data knowledge
7j. Understanding of traffic safety data, trends and analysis
7k. Connections with LEAs in jurisdiction
7l. Experience training others
7m. Participation in continuing education training
7n. Good oral communications skills
7o. Good written communications skills
7p. Computer proficiency
7q. Strong interpersonal skills
7r. Facilitation and leadership experience
7s. Ability to manage multiple, concurrent tasks/relationships
7t. Project management, administrative process and procedure, and management abilities
7u. Developing or acquiring promotional material/equipment
7v. Other (Specify)
7w. Other (Specify)

8. Do the LELs perform non-LEL-related tasks for your sponsoring agency in addition to their LEL-related responsibilities? (Check one)

___ Yes

___ No

If YES to Question 8:

8a. Describe these non-LEL-related tasks: _______________________________

9. How are your LELs’ responsibilities determined or assigned? (Check one)

___ Entire State

___ Specific region of the State

___ Specific County(ies)

___ Specific municipality (e.g., city, town, township, borough)

___ Specific type of LEA (if so, check all that apply)

___State police

___Sheriffs

___ Local law enforcement agencies

___ Federal

___ Tribal

___ Other (describe) ____________________________________

____ Coverage area varies depending on the highway safety topic

____ Other (describe): __________________________________________

10. How many LELs cover each of the following highway safety program areas? (Enter a number for each)

___Impaired Driving

___Occupant Protection

___ Distracted Driving

___Unsafe (Aggressive) Driving Behavior

___ Speed Management

___ Motorcycle Safety

___ Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety

___ School Bus Safety

___ Teen Drivers

___ Officer Safety

___ Traffic Safety Related Training

___ General Traffic Enforcement

___ Improvement of Traffic Records

___ Enhancement of Emergency Services

___ Other (describe): ______________

11. Are the LELs in your State responsible for providing services to all LEAs in their area of responsibility, or only to highway safety program grantees within their area of responsibility? (Check one)

___ All LEAs in their area of responsibility

___Only to grantees within their area of responsibility

12. What reporting information do you require from your LELs to document performance of their LEL responsibilities? (Check all that apply)

___ Number of LEA contacts made remotely (not in-person)

___ Number of in-person LEA visits/meetings

___ Number of grantees

___ Number of participating LEAs (full and mini mobilizations)

___ Number of training sessions conducted

___ Number of officers trained

___ Quantity of public outreach material distributed to LEAs and their programs

___ Attendance at local highway safety events and regional conferences

___ Other (Specify): ___________________________________________

Press to Continue to Section B

SECTION B: HOW YOUR AGENCY ASSISTS LELS IN CARRYING OUT THEIR DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Your responses to the questions in this section will help us understand how LEL supervisors and the sponsoring agency assist the LELs in performance of their work.

13. How many staff in your agency, including yourself, manage or supervise the LELs in your State? (Enter a number) _____________

14. In what ways does your agency assist the LELs in carrying out their responsibilities? (Check all that apply)

Grant-Related Activities

___ Site visit recruitment (face to face) of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to participate in NHTSA highway safety program grants

___ Email, telephone contact recruitment of law enforcement agencies (LEAs) to participate in NHTSA highway safety program grants

___ Manage programs receiving grant funding

___ Track grantee enforcement activity (hours, citations)

___ Track grantee public outreach activity

___ Create and monitor enforcement budgets

___ Observe enforcement activity of participating LEAs during their implementation of highway safety programs

___ Conduct program audits

___ Prepare periodic activity reports

___ Prepare other reporting requirements (Specify) __________________________

Training

___ Participate in train-the-trainer classes or training in data collection methods (training to improve others’ knowledge, skills, and abilities)

___ Participate in professional development training (training to improve your own knowledge, skills, abilities)

___ Train LEAs with various training programs (check all that apply)

___ARIDE

___DRE

___SFST

___Speed Management

___ TOPS

___ Below 100

___ Large Truck and Bus

___ Motorcycle Enforcement

___ Seat Belt Observations

___ School Education

___ Use of data for HVE programs

___ Child Passenger Safety

___ Other: (specify) ______________________________________________

Providing Resources/Technical Support

___ Provide data and information to LEAs

___ Determine equipment needs for mobilizations

___ Plan/develop mobilizations/programs

___ Plan/develop border to border activities

___ Coordinate earned media efforts

___ Provide guidance and technical support to improve the effectiveness of enforcement strategies such as checkpoint operations, officer safety, data collection, etc.

___ Develop officer award/recognition programs

Conferences/Meetings

___ Attend/present/display booth at local highway safety events

___ Attend/present/display booth at regional highway safety meetings

___ Attend officer recognition ceremonies

___ Present programs to the community (e.g., schools, EMTs, and businesses)

Promote Programs

____Promote highway safety campaign calendar

____Provide link and act as point of contact between law enforcement community and SHSO

____ Develop and maintain close working relationships with traffic courts

____Build relationships with SHSO staff and State DOTs/DMVs

____ Build relationships with LE partners, advocates, stakeholders, and non-LE partners

Other

Press to Continue to Section C

___ Other responsibilities (Specify) _________________________________________

SECTION C: HOW YOU COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR LELS

Your responses to the questions in this section will help us understand how often you, as a LEL supervisor, communicate with the LELs in your State, the methods used for your communications, and what you believe to be the most effective means of communication.

15. How frequently (on average) do you communicate with your LELs? (Check one)

___ Daily

___ Weekly

___ Monthly

___ Quarterly

___ Twice a year

____ Once a year

___ Other (Specify) ______________________________

16. Use the rating scale below to rate the effectiveness of the following modes of communication with your LELs .

(For each item, check a category from 1=Not effective at all, to 5 = Extremely Effective.” If you have never used a particular method, check N/A.)

Communication Mode	1 Not Effective at All	2 Slightly Effective	3 Moderately Effective	4 Very Effective	5 Extremely Effective	N/A Have never used
16a. Telephone and/or conference calls
16b. Email - personal messages
16c. Email – eblasts
16d. Website
16e. Social media (Facebook/Twitter posts)
16f. Fax
16g. Mailings
16h. In-person (face-to-face) meetings
16i. Law enforcement organizational meetings (i.e., chiefs, FOP, advisory board, etc.)
16j. Conversation/presentations at local/regional conferences/banquets/special events

Press to Continue to Section D

SECTION D: HOW YOUR AGENCY EVALUATES THE JOB PERFORMANCE OF YOUR LELS

Your responses to the questions in this section will provide information about how your agency evaluates the job performance of your LELs. These questions focus on their individual work performance, not the highway safety outcome performance goals and measures.

17. Does someone in your agency evaluate the work performance of your LELs? (check one)

___ Yes

___ No

If YES to question 17:

17a. Are you the individual within your agency who performs evaluations of LEL work performance? (Check one)

___ Yes

___ No

17b. Does your agency provide information to the LELs about how they will be evaluated at the start of the evaluation period? (e.g., is there a plan, established goals, activity measurements, etc.?) (Check one)

___ Yes (describe)_____________________________________________

___ No

17c. How often does your agency provide feedback to your LELs regarding their job performance? (Check one)

___ Daily

___ Weekly

___ Monthly

___ Every Other Month (Bi-Monthly)

___ Every Three Months (Quarterly)

___ Every 6 Months (Semi-Annually)

___ Once a year (Annually)

___ Other (explain)

17d. What metrics does your agency use to evaluate the work of your LELs?

(Check all that apply).

___ Number of LEA contacts made remotely (not in-person)

___ Number of in-person LEA visits/meetings

___ Number of grantees

___ Number of participating LEAs (full and mini mobilizations)

___ Number of training sessions conducted

___ Number of officers trained

___ Quantity of public outreach material distributed to LEAs and their programs

___ Attendance at local highway safety events and regional conferences

___ Performance of the grantees in your area of responsibility (their seat belt and speeding citation and impaired-driving arrest activity during grant-funded enforcement)

____ Traffic safety outcomes in your area of responsibility (e.g., reductions in fatalities or serious injuries in traffic crashes) (describe)_________________________

___ Other (Specify.)

Press to Continue to Section E

SECTION E: LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY (LEA) RECRUITMENT AND FUNDING FOR NHTSA HIGHWAY SAFETY GRANTS

Your responses to the questions in this section will assist in our understanding of how the LEAs in your State are recruited and funded and their participation rate in NHTSA’s highway safety programs in the past 12 months.

18. Do the participating LEAs in your State receive highway safety grant funding? (Check one)

___Yes, all participating LEAs receive grant funding

___Some, but not all, participating LEAs receive grant funding

___ No, none of the participating LEAs receive grant funding

___ Don’t know

19. Who is responsible for evaluating the grant applications submitted by the LEAs? (Check one)

___ Your agency alone

___ Your agency in collaboration with the LELs

___LELs alone

___ Other (explain)

20. Do you participate in the evaluation of grant applications or provide input to the grantee selection process? (Check one)

___ Yes

___ No

If Yes to Question 20:

20a. Describe the criteria and process used to select LEA grantees.

_____________________________________________________________

21. How many LEAs received grants in 2016 in each of the following program areas? (Specify number of agencies by program area.)

Highway Safety Program Area	Number of LEAs who Received Grants in 2016
21a. Impaired Driving
21b.Occupant Protection
21c. Distracted Driving
21d. Unsafe (Aggressive) Driving Behavior
21e. Speed Management
21f. Motorcycle Safety
21g. Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety
21h. School Bus Safety
21i. Teen Drivers
21j. Improvement of Traffic Records
21k. Enhancement of Emergency Services
21l. Other (describe): ____________________

22. Does your agency use crash data to help recruit LEAs to participate in NHTSA’s highway safety programs? (Check one)

___ Yes

___ No

23. Have your LELs developed any unique approaches to encourage more LEAs to participate in grants and other highway safety activities? (Check one.)

___Yes

___No

If Yes to Question 23:

23a. Describe their unique approaches.

24. Does your State have a standardized process to identify LEAs to be funded versus those who will voluntarily participate in your highway safety programs? (Check one.)

___Yes

___No

If YES to Question 24:

24a. Describe this standardized process. ______________________________

25. What percentage of the LEAs in your State are eligible for highway safety grant funding, but do not elect to participate in these funded programs?

(Specify a percentage.) _______%

26. What reasons do eligible LEAs and law enforcement leaders provide for not participating in these funded traffic safety programs? (Check all that apply.)

____Competing priorities

____Insufficient staffing

____ Insufficient resources (e.g., funding equipment)

____ Lack of required training

____ Political permission

____ Lack of understanding of grant application process

____ No highway safety champion in the LEA

____ Prefer to operate independently without grant funding

____ Require overtime funding for traffic enforcement

____ Not interested in traffic enforcement

____ “Program Fatigue”

____ No perceived traffic safety problem

____ Data do not support the traffic safety efforts

____ Minimal traffic volume with few to no crashes occurring

____Lack of interest by chief/sheriff

____Lack of interest with officers/deputies

____Competing overtime opportunities

____Legal challenges enforcing current State highway safety law(s) (e.g., prohibitions for using checkpoints; no primary belt laws: specific legislative conditions such as prohibition of the use of speed measuring devices)

____Disagree with premise of traffic law(s)

____ Concern for officer safety during traffic stops

____ Technical challenges to enforcement exist (e.g., ability to monitor drivers for distraction, observing nighttime seat belt use, etc.)

____Other (Specify.) ____________________________________

26a. Are there strategies for overcoming any of the barriers checked in Question 26?

___Yes

___ No

IF YES to 26a:

Press to Continue to Section F

26b. Describe these strategies.

SECTION F: HOW YOUR AGENCY USES PERFORMANCE MEASURES TO DETERMINE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF NHTSA-SPONSORED HIGHWAY SAFETY GRANT ACTIVITIES

The purpose of the following questions is to learn if and how your agency uses traffic safety outcome and activity performance measures to determine the effectiveness of NHTSA-sponsored highway safety program grants.

27. Do your highway safety programs use traffic safety performance measures to determine the effectiveness of program activities? (Check one.)

___ Yes

___ No

___ Don’t know

If YES to Question 27:

27a. Describe these traffic safety performance measures and goals (e.g., X% increase in seat belt use; X% reduction in overall traffic fatalities and serious injuries, X% reduction in unrestrained crash injuries and fatalities, % reduction in impaired driving related injuries and fatalities; number of seat belt and speeding citations issued during grant-funded activities, number of impaired driving arrests made during grant funded activities)

27b. Who defines the goals for the outcome measures? (Check one.)

___ Each LEL defines the goals for their areas of responsibility

___ The SHSO (or sponsoring agency) sets the goals

___ Collaboration between LEL and SHSO

___ Other (Describe): ______________________________________________

28. Does your State use benchmarks to evaluate the level of enforcement activity of each LEA grantee? (e.g., performance measures for counts of crackdowns and mobilizations, hours worked, citations or warnings written during each, contacts per hour) (Check one.)

___Yes

___No

If YES to Question 28:

28a. Please elaborate on this standardized process (or upload a document describing the benchmarks and process, if you have one available electronically. See last survey question in Section I for upload link). __________________________________________________________________

Press to Continue to Section G

SECTION G: INFORMATION ABOUT YOUR STATE LEL BUDGET

This section of the survey contains questions that will help us better understand what is included in your State’s LEL budget.

29. What does the LEL program budget in your State include? (Check all that apply)

___ LEL Salaries

___Travel Costs (e.g., mileage)

___ State vehicle

___ Public outreach material

___ Signs, message boards, equipment, etc.

___ Training supplies and equipment

___ Conference fees

___ Meals, motel lodging, other incidentals

___ Recognition material (e.g., ribbons, coins, etc.)

___Other (Specify) ________________________

Press to Continue to Section H

SECTION H: ADDITIONAL INFORMATION – OPEN FEEDBACK

If you would like to provide more detailed information about how you manage and support the LELs in their duties, how your State’s LEL program is organized and operates, and ways that you think the LEL position or program could be improved, please use the space below.

30. Please provide any additional information that would be helpful to our understanding of how your LEL program operates.

31. If you have additional information about how your agency manages and supports the LELs, please provide it here.

32. If you have any recommendations about how the LEL position or LEL program could be improved, please provide them here.

33. Please provide a profile of the LEL business model used by the State.

34. Would you be willing to be interviewed by our research team in the near future to discuss topics such as LEL program costs, including salaries, travel expenditures, and even the sponsoring agency management time? (Check one.)

___Yes

Press to Continue to Section I

___No

SECTION I: UPLOAD DOCUMENTS

We would also like to have a copy of your LEL position description, if your State’s LEL program has a written job description, as well as documentation of benchmarks for evaluating level of enforcement activity for LEA grantees.

NOTE to programmer to provide upload instructions.

35. If there is a written description for your LEL positions please upload a copy, or email, fax, or mail to the address provided at the end of this survey.

Indicate which delivery method you used to provide this information (check one):

____ Uploaded

____ Faxed

____Emailed

____ Mailed via U.S. Postal Service

____ Did not provide

36. If there are written procedures with benchmarks for evaluating level of enforcement activity for LEA grantees, please upload them, or email, fax , or mail to the address provided at the end of the survey.

Indicate which delivery method you used to provide this information (check one):

____ Uploaded

____ Faxed

____ Emailed

____ Mailed via U.S. Postal Service

____ Did not provide

Thank you for your time and effort in completing this survey.

If you have any questions about this survey or you are planning to email, fax, or mail position descriptions and procedures, please use the contact information below:

Lawrence E. Decina

TransAnalytics, LLC

336 West Broad Street

Quakertown, PA 18951

Phone: 215-538-3820, ext. 102

Fax: 215-538-3821

Email: [email protected]

NHTSA Form No. 1409 Page 26 of 26

File Type	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document
Author	Larry Decina
File Modified	0000-00-00
File Created	2021-01-20