Do Police Make Too Many Arrests? The Effect of Enforcement Pullbacks on Crime

Arbeitspapier

Do reductions in arrests increase crime? We study line-of-duty deaths of police officers, events that likely impact police behavior through increased fear but are unlikely to directly impact civilian behavior. Officer deaths cause significant short-term reductions in all arrest types, with the largest reductions in arrests for lower-level offenses. In contrast, we find no evidence of an increase in crime or a change in victim reporting through 911 calls. There is also no apparent threshold of arrest decline beyond which crime increases. Our findings suggest that enforcement activity can be reduced at the margin without incurring public safety costs.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 14907

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination ; Demographic Economics: Public Policy ; Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
• Subject: policing ; crime ; deterrence ; broken windows ; Ferguson effect ; community trust

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Cho, Sungwoo ; Gonçalves, Felipe ; Weisburst, Emily
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)
• (where): Bonn
• (when): 2021

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/250568
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:42 AM CET