The National Association of Chiefs of Police released its 17th Annual Survey of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs and some of the survey findings are surprising and compelling. The survey -- released in the January 2005 issue of Police Times Magazine -- had some surprising results on various topics including terrorism, gun control, homeland security, and drug enforcement.

NACOP asserts that the public perception of how police view certain issues is based on media coverage, which is not necessarily accurate. When police chiefs and sheriffs are allowed to respond to poll questions anonymously, the politics may be removed from their answers.

Terrorism: When asked if the United States would be attacked by terrorists within the next year, 86.6 percent said yes. Meanwhile 70 percent of police commanders said they received training and other resources from the federal government to combat terrorism, while only 49.2 percent said their departments participated in terrorism-response simulations.

Homeland Security: When police commanders were asked if they observed more cooperation between federal and local agencies, 69.7 percent said yes. Sixty-seven percent of the respondents stated they found the color-coded threat matrix an effective way of informing the public of terrorist threats. When asked if the process of arming commercial airline pilots is too burdensome, 53.6 percent of the police executives answered yes.

Gun Control: With regard to private citizens owning firearms for sport or self-defense, 93.6 percent of the respondents supported civilian gun-ownership rights. Ninety-six percent of the police chiefs and sheriffs believe criminals obtain firearms from illegal sources and 92.2 percent revealed they hadn't arrested anyone for violation of the so-called "waiting period" laws. When asked if citizens concealed-weapons permits would reduce violent crime, 63.1 percent said yes.

War on Drugs: Forty-one percent of police commanders surveyed said they believe marijuana should be available for medicinal purposes and 68.9 percent said they've seen an increase in the abuse of prescription drugs such as Oxycontin and other Schedule II drugs. Only 22 percent of police commanders believe the war on drugs has been successful, while 28 percent said they favored decriminalization of "soft drugs" such as marijuana.

Police News Coverage: An overwhelming 93.2 percent believe the news media is not fair and balanced in their coverage, while 70.1 percent said they have at least one officer assigned to handle media requests.

Technology: Ninety-four percent of the respondents believe convicted felons should be required to submit DNA samples to be catalogued in a manner similar to that used for fingerprints. Only 29.8 percent said their departments issue tasers to their officers.

Other Topics: With regard to criminal (racial) profiling, 67.3 percent stated they had a written and enforced policy prohibiting such profiling. Only 23 percent of the respondents felt that civilian-review boards are effective in handling citizen complaints against police officers, while 58.7 said their subordinates attended sensitivity training classes.

Jim Kouri, CPP is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police. He's former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. He's also served on the National Drug Task Force and trained police and security officers throughout the country.   He writes for many police and crime magazines including Chief of Police, Police Times, The Narc Officer, Campus Law Enforcement Journal, and others.   He's appeared as on-air commentator for over 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc.  His book Assume The Position is available at Amazon.Com, Booksamillion.com, and can be ordered at local bookstores.