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Crime and Police Resources: The Street Crime Initiative

Author

Listed:
  • Machin, Stephen

    (London School of Economics)

  • Marie, Olivier

    (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

Abstract
In this paper we look at links between police resources and crime in a different way to the existing economics of crime work. To do so we focus on a large-scale policy intervention – the Street Crime Initiative – that was introduced in England and Wales in 2002. This allocated additional resources to some police force areas to combat street crime, whereas other forces did not receive any additional funding. Estimates derived from several empirical strategies show that robberies fell significantly in SCI police forces relative to non-SCI forces after the initiative was introduced. Moreover, the policy seems to have been a cost effective one, even after allowing for possible displacement or diffusion effects onto other crimes and adjacent areas. There is some heterogeneity in this positive net social benefit across different SCI police forces, suggesting that some police forces may have made better use of the extra resources than others. Overall, we reach the conclusion that increased police resources do in fact lead to lower crime, at least in the context of the SCI programme we study.

Suggested Citation

  • Machin, Stephen & Marie, Olivier, 2005. "Crime and Police Resources: The Street Crime Initiative," IZA Discussion Papers 1853, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1853
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gary S. Becker, 1974. "Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach," NBER Chapters, in: Essays in the Economics of Crime and Punishment, pages 1-54, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    cost effectiveness; police resources; street crime;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H00 - Public Economics - - General - - - General
    • H5 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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