Drug and Alcohol-Related Workload of Anchorage Patrol Officers: Results From Two Patrol Officer Surveys

Abstract

It is widely agreed among criminal justice professionals that alcohol and illegal drugs play a role in patterns of crime, but not much is known about how these substances influence the operation of criminal justice agencies, particularly in the area of policing. This report summarizes the findings of a study of the extent to which drug and alcohol-related incidents formed the workload of Anchorage Police Department patrol officers. The study consisted of two surveys, the first of which asked APD patrol officers to provide their best estimate of the amount of time they spent dealing with alcohol and drug-related activities, the second of which required patrol officers to complete incident logs describing drug and alcohol-related incidents encountered on patrol. The study found that officers tended to overestimate the amount of time they spent on drug or alcohol-related activities, but that the drug and alcohol-related activities nonetheless comprise a significant portion of APD patrol officers' workload.