1	The Impact of WV’s PSN Media Awareness Campaign on Citizen Attitudes Toward Crime and Criminal Justice System Responses Stephen M. Haas, Director Erica Turley, Research Analyst West Virginia Statistical Analysis Center
2	Project Safe Neighborhoods PSN is the federal firearms initiative aimed at reducing gun violence through coordinated strategic planning. The foundation built upon the apparent success of local initiatives: Project Exile in Richmond, VA Boston’s Operation Ceasefire, and the Strategic Approaches to Community Safety Initiative (SACSI) sites. Project Exile used enhanced federal prosecution efforts with longer sentences and a targeted public awareness campaign to deter potential offenders.
3	Project Safe Neighborhoods In recognition of the unique gun crime problems in existence across the country, a “one-size-fits-all” strategy was not mandated for all 94 federal judicial districts under the PSN initiative. Many districts received funding for a media outreach partner to guide local community outreach and public awareness activities. The outreach partner was to guide development, production, and distribution of the local public awareness campaign, as well as to engage members of the community in the initiative.
4	WV’s Hard Time for Gun Crime Initiative Implemented in WV’s Southern District Initially launched in the spring of 2004 Three target counties (Kanawha, Cabell, Raleigh) Main focus: Community outreach and a localized media campaign based on deterrence
5	WV’s Hard Time for Gun Crime Initiative Television, radio, billboards, and various other posters, flyers, and stickers were distributed in the district. Used federal firearms laws and their harsh penalties with no parole to educate and deter potential offenders and the community. Message: “Commit a crime with a gun, spend 5 years to life in federal prison, no parole.” Intended to deter gun violence, and more generally, violent crime using federal firearms laws.
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9	Present Study Purpose: To examine the potential deterrent impact of the media campaign One part of a larger evaluation that examines prosecution data and pre-post crime trends Research focus: To what extent did the media campaign reach its intended audience? How concerned are citizen’s about crime and gun crime in their neighborhoods? Did exposure to the message increase knowledge of federal firearm laws? Did exposure to the message change citizen’s perceptions of the certainty and severity of punishment for gun crimes?
10	Study Design Statewide telephone survey of adult WV residents residing in households 3 regions of the state, stratified: northern judicial district, southern target counties, and south remainder The telephone interviews were conducted in the fall of 2005, private telemarketing research firm Interviews conducted weekday evenings and all day on Saturdays
11	Study Design Interviewers were extensively trained: Initial 1-hour training, followed by mock interviews, and ongoing training as necessary Supervisor monitored Survey questionnaire was piloted 30 surveys effort to eliminate confusing questions or wordings Random Digit Dialing (RDD) was used to obtain the sample Eligible households and respondents: 18 years or older (youngest adult requested) No law enforcement or victim service providers
12	Sample The total unweighted sample of 809 for the state Weighted samples based on 2000 Census – gender, race, age Final weighted sample: 778 participants, 198 in the south target, 189 in the remaining southern counties Southern Target: 52.9% female, 8.5% nonwhite, 28.9% 18 to 24 years of age; 47.6% married, 8.0% not HS graduate, 20.0% less than $15K Southern Comparison: 47.3% female, 3.3% nonwhite, 26.9% 18 to 24 years of age; 54.6% married, 17.0% not HS graduate, 24.9% less than $15K
13	Campaign Awareness
14	Perception of Neighborhood Problems
15	Fear of Neighborhood Crime
16	Fear of Neighborhood Gun Crime
17	Knowledge of Federal Firearm Laws
18	Perception of Certainty
19	Changes in Penalty Severity
20	Perceptions of Punishment Severity
21	Conclusions Residents in the target counties were significantly more likely to have heard of Hard Time for Gun Crime. However, for both the target and comparison group, violent crime involving firearms is seen as the least of concerns. Fear of crime and gun crime is slightly greater in target counties. Regardless of exposure or not, only a small percentage of residents were knowledgeable of federal firearm laws. Exposure to campaign did not appear to increase knowledge of federal firearm laws.
22	Conclusions Certainty of receiving punishment declines as penalties become more severe, regardless of exposure or study group. Exposure to the campaign did not increase perceptions of punishment certainty among target county residents. Persons who were exposed to the campaign were slightly more likely to believe that the severity of penalties for committing gun crimes had increased in the past two years. However, exposure to the campaign did not increase residents perceptions of punishment severity.
23	Implications Broad media campaign approaches to general populations of residents may not be effective in changing attitudes toward gun crime. May want to consider a more targeted approach (e.g., felony offenders rather than general population campaign). Contributes to the growing body of literature showing deterrent messages have a greater impact when targeted to specific people and/or places.
24	Future Directions Not able to isolate offenders due to small number with prior contact with system. Triangulate these results with prosecution and crime trend data to assess overall impact of PSN. Conduct multivariate analysis to examine the importance of exposure while controlling for other variables (e.g., gun ownership, prior victimization, demographics). Determine if the impact of exposure is different in target versus the remaining southern counties based on multivariate analysis.
25	Contact Information Stephen M. Haas, Ph.D. Director WV Statistical Analysis Center 304/558-8814, ext. 269 shaas@wvdcjs.org