We analyzed the prevalence of arrest (ages ranged from 24 to 34) across sex and race/ethnicity by drawing on nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Findings revealed 30 % of U.S. adults (aged 24-34) reported being arrested at least once in their lifetime. Prevalence of lifetime arrest for males (43 %) was more than two times that of females (17 %). Arrest risk was not homogenous across racial/ ethnic groups with 19 % of Asian/Pacific Islander respondents reporting an arrest, 29 % of White respondents reporting an arrest, 38 % Black respondents reporting an arrest, and 40 % of American Indian/Native Americans reporting an arrest. The current results support recent evidence gleaned from alternative sources but suggest arrest risk is not homogenous across sex or racial/ethnic categories.

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For unknown reasons, the research investigating police officers' attitudes toward drug use is underdeveloped. One study, by Wilson, Cullen, Latessa, and Wills, has directly investigated police officers' perceptions toward general vice crimes (including drug use) and perceived appropriate sanctions for committing these offenses. This article built upon that study. A survey measuring officers' attitudes toward drugs was developed and used to gather data from a large metropolitan police department in the South. Responding officers displayed fairly serious and punitive attitudes toward drug offenses. In addition, they reported an interventionist attitude, believing that more can and should be done to control drug activity. Individual officer characteristics, such as education attainment and political ideology, were more strongly associated with drug attitudes than law enforcement indicators, such as rank and experience with the vice/narcotics unit.

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