ACI Technical Report: Initial Measures Derived from Census

The decennial census provides a wealth of information about communities that has been mined by social scientist for decades. The purpose of this technical report is to describe an initial set of measures taken from or derived from the 2000 U.S. Census in an effort to develop a statistical description of Anchorage communities for use with the Anchorage Community Indicators project of the University of Alaska Anchorage Justice Center. The initial set of measures isolated from census are inspired by two principal bodies of work: (1) the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, an exceptionally well endowed research effort that took neighborhood measurement very seriously; and, (2) Peter Blau’s work that specifies parameter of social structure, heterogeneity, and inequality. The focus of the paper is on documenting how the measures were formed from 2000 Summary File 3 census tables. However, measures without conceptual content are of little value. Accordingly, the paper will offer a brief introduction to the derivative works (PHDCN, Blau) and then follow with a fairly detailed presentation of each measure (what concept is addressed, how it is measured, how the measure is distributed across block group and census tracts, and isolation of the census tables providing essential counts).Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods — Measures from Census / Peter Blau's Measures of Social Structure: Hetergeneity and Inequality Measures / Heterogeneity Measures (Industrial, Occupational, Racial) / Inequality Measures (Income Inequality) / Reference

Anchorage Community Indicators: Public Use Data Files

The four SPSS datasets described and included here include: ACSPUBFILE.SAV: The data collected in the course of the 2005 Anchorage Community Survey in SPSS format. / ACSCT.SAV: a merged dataset consisting of composite measures extracted from the 2005 Anchorage Community Survey, 2000 U.S. Census, and Anchorage Police Department Dispatches 2003–2005. / BLOCKGROUPMEASURES.SAV: A description of the 214 census block groups within the city of Anchorage, including composite measures derived from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing (documented in ACI Technical Report Initial Measures derived from Census) and dispatch measures derived from APD dispatch data files (documented in Anchorage Police Department Dispatch Data). / CTRACTMEASURES.SAV: A census tract level of aggregation of the 214 census blocks into the 55 census tracts that compose the city of Anchorage. Also includes composite measures derived from the 2000 Census of Population and Housing (documented in ACI Technical Report Initial Measures derived from Census) and dispatch measures derived from APD dispatch data files (documented in Anchorage Police Department Dispatch Data).The Anchorage Community Survey is a biannual study conducted by the Justice Center at the University of Alaska Anchorage as a principal component of the Community Indicators Project at UAA. As the premier source of data on Anchorage Community Indicators, the ACS also provides insight into the communities of Anchorage, Girdwood and Eagle River. This document explains the various SPSS datasets, collection methods, and variables of the 2005 Anchorage Community Survey (https://scholarworks.alaska.edu/handle/11122/3729).[Introduction] / 2005 Anchorage Community Survey / 2000 U.S. Census Extracts / Appendices — Variables / 1: ACSPubFile.sav / 2: ACSCT.sav / 3: CTractMeasures.sav / 4: BlockGroupMeasures.sa

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey, 2006: A Sourcebook of Community Attitudes

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey (Mat-Su Survey) was a cooperative effort on the part of Mat-Su College, the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough which asked Mat-Su Borough residents to evaluate the quality of Borough services, provide opinions about Borough decision-making, and sum up their perceptions about a range of issues relevant to the present and future of the Mat-Su community. The survey was distributed to every Borough household in the spring of 2006; a total of 2,600 were received, coded, and analyzed for the report. The Sourcebook provides detailed tabular results in six major areas: (1) evaluation of current borough services; (2) use of borough facilities; (3) life in Mat-Su neighborhoods; (4) local government access, policies, and practices; (5) higher education; and (6) respondent background information.Matanuska Susitna BoroughIntroduction / SECTION 1 DETAILED BOROUGH-WIDE RESULTS / Evaluation of Current Borough Services / Use of Borough Facilities / Life in Matanuska-Susitna Borough Neighborhoods / Local Government: Access, Policies and Practices / Higher Education / Respondent Background Information / SECTION 2: RESULTS FOR GEOGRAPHIC AREAS WITHIN THE BOROUGH / Evaluation of Current Borough Services / Use of Borough Facilities / Life in Matanuska-Susitna Borough Neighborhoods / Local Government: Access, Policies and Practices / Higher Education / Respondent Background Information / APPENDIX A: Questionnair

Literature Review: Diverting Mentally Ill Offenders from Jail

This literature review describes literature available on the topic of diverting mentally ill offenders from jail; outlines major themes found in the literature; analyzed programs described in the literature by type; and highlights recommendations from the literature.Criminal Justice Systems ProjectIntroduction / Description of Literature / Common Themes / Analysis / Recommendation / Abstracts / Bibliograph

Dispositions of DWI Arrestees: Anchorage, 1996

This study explores the dispositions of subjects arrested in Anchorage, Alaska during 1996 for driving while intoxicated (DWI). The project was designed to describe the Anchorage criminal justice system’s processing of DWI offenders and to isolate legal and extralegal variables that predict various offender dispositions. This report presents a literature review of studies relating to legal and extra-legal factors affecting court processing of offenders; discusses methodologies of the present study; presents flow charts of DWI arrestee processing in Anchorage; and presents the multivariate analysis that isolates significant correlates of DWI arrest disposition.Anchorage Safe Communities Alaska Highway Safety Planning Agency, Alaska Department of TransportationIntroduction / Literature Review / Data and Method / Profiles / Dispositions of DWI Suspects in Anchorage: The Process / Correlates of Disposition / Summary / Bibliography / Appendix - Sex and Race Specific Flow Chart

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey, 2007: A Sourcebook of Community Attitudes

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough Community Survey (Mat-Su Survey) was a cooperative effort on the part of Mat-Su College, the University of Alaska-Anchorage (UAA) and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough which asked Mat-Su Borough residents to evaluate the quality of Borough services, provide opinions about Borough decision-making, and sum up their perceptions about a range of issues relevant to the present and future of the Mat-Su community. The survey was distributed to 2,478 residents of the Mat-Su Borough in the spring of 2007; a total of 1,388 surveys were returned, for a response rate of 56.1%. The Sourcebook provides results in five major areas: (1) evaluation of current borough services; (2) use of borough facilities; (3) life in Mat-Su neighborhoods; (4) local government access, policies, and practices; and (5) respondent background information.Matanuska Susitna BoroughIntroduction / Executive Summary / SECTION 1: DETAILED BOROUGH-WIDE RESULTS / Evaluation of Current Borough Services / Use of Borough Facilities / Life in Matanuska-Susitna Borough Neighborhoods / Local Government: Access, Policies and Practices / Respondent Background Information / SECTION 2: RESULTS FOR GEOGRAPHIC AREAS WITHIN THE BOROUGH / Evaluation of Current Borough Services / Use of Borough Facilities / Life in Matanuska-Susitna Borough Neighborhoods / Local Government: Access, Policies and Practices / APPENDIX A: Questionnair

Collective Efficacy and Firearms Violence in Anchorage, Alaska: Preliminary Findings

Paper also presented at the 2007 annual meeting of the Western Society of Criminology, Scottsdale, Arizona.This paper seeks to advance the discussion of the utility of collective efficacy, as captured by Sampson, Raudenbush and Earls, in understanding community levels of crime by exploring the relation between community structure, collective efficacy, and in this case firearms violence, in Anchorage, Alaska. The specific aims of this paper are to report the results of a test of the collective efficacy thesis, modeled loosely after the test presented in the 1997 Science paper by Sampson, Raudenbush and Earls, as an explanation of neighborhood rates of firearms violence in Anchorage.Measures Replication and Data / Collective Efficacy and Violence in Anchorage / Discussion and Conclusions / References / Table

Sexual Assault Study: Overview

Poster originally presented to the Anchorage Police Department and the 2004 Alaska Summit on Violence Against Women.Anchorage Community Indicators is a public education project of the Justice Center aimed at providing information about various aspects of the Anchorage municipality through maps and tables. This issue introduces Series 2, "Sexual Assault Study," which describes the spatial patterning and geographical concentration of sexual assaults reported to the Anchorage Police Department in 2000–2001.This research was supported by Grant No. 2000-RH-CX-K039 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and by a UAA Faculty Development Grant to the first author.Rates of Forcible Rape in U.S., Alaska, and Anchorage, 1982–2001 / Demographic Characteristics of Suspects / Incident Locations (map) / Incident Locations for Native Victims (map) / Incident Locations for White Victims (map) / Victim-Suspect Relationship / Drug and Alcohol Use by Victim and Suspect / Demographic Characteristics of Victims (race; age) / Assault Locations / Incident Locations and Bar Locations (map) / Day of Assault / Hours Between Assault and Reporting To Polic

Police Alcohol-Related Services Study (PASS), Phase II: A Description of the Beliefs, Perceptions and Attitudes of Anchorage Police Department Employees

The principal aim of the Police Alcohol-related Services Study (PASS) was to expand knowledge about the fiscal, organizational, and cultural impact of citizen alcohol use on the Anchorage Police Department (APD). Phase II of the study employed a voluntary, self-administered questionnaire provided to all members of the APD regardless of rank, sworn status, or operational division. The questionnaire was designed to explore respondents' perceptions of their alcohol-related workload; perceptions of community problems; perceived links between alcohol use and selected social problems; attitudes, perceptions, and beliefs about the policing of alcohol-related incidents and the people involved with them; and personal and vicarious experience with alcohol-related incidents. The report describes survey response through comparison of APD employee responses across divisions within the department: operations vs. administration, patrol vs. non-patrol, and sworn vs. non-sworn.Part I. Project Overview & Summary of Findings / Part II. Alcohol-Related Workload: APD Employee Perspectives / Appendice