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Counterevidence of crime-reduction effects from federal grants of military equipment to local police

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Gunderson

    (Louisiana State University)

  • Elisha Cohen

    (Emory University)

  • Kaylyn Jackson Schiff

    (Emory University)

  • Tom S. Clark

    (Emory University)

  • Adam N. Glynn

    (Emory University
    Emory University)

  • Michael Leo Owens

    (Emory University)

Abstract

In 2017, the Trump Administration restored local law enforcement agencies’ access to military weapons and some other types of surplus military equipment (SME) that had been prohibited by the Obama Administration. The Justice Department background paper used to justify this decision cited two papers published by the American Economic Association. These papers used SME data collected with a 2014 Freedom of Information Act request and concluded that SME, supplied to local law enforcement by the federal government via the 1033 Program, reduces crime. Here we show that the findings of these studies are not credible due to problems with the data. Using more detailed audit data on 1033 SME, we show that the 2014 data are flawed and that the more recent data provide no evidence that 1033 SME reduces crime.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Gunderson & Elisha Cohen & Kaylyn Jackson Schiff & Tom S. Clark & Adam N. Glynn & Michael Leo Owens, 2021. "Counterevidence of crime-reduction effects from federal grants of military equipment to local police," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(2), pages 194-204, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nathum:v:5:y:2021:i:2:d:10.1038_s41562-020-00995-5
    DOI: 10.1038/s41562-020-00995-5
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    Cited by:

    1. Crum, John D. & Corradi, A. & Ramey, D.M., 2024. "For law enforcement purposes: The complicated relationship between the 1033 program and the expanding police mandate," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Christos Mavridis & Orestis Troumpounis & Maurizio Zanardi, 2022. "Protests and Police Militarization," School of Economics Discussion Papers 0122, School of Economics, University of Surrey.

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