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Police Presence, Rapid Response Rates, and Crime Prevention

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  • Sarit Weisburd

    (Tel Aviv University)

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of police presence on crime using a unique database that tracks the exact location of Dallas Police Department patrol cars throughout 2009. To address the concern that officer location is often driven by crime, my instrument exploits police responses to calls outside their allocated coverage beat. This variable provides a plausible shift in police presence within the abandoned beat that is driven by the police goal of minimizing response times. I find that a 10% decrease in police presence at that location results in a 7% increase in crime. This result sheds light on the black box of policing and crime and suggests that routine changes in police patrol can have a significant impact on criminal behavior.

Suggested Citation

  • Sarit Weisburd, 2021. "Police Presence, Rapid Response Rates, and Crime Prevention," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 103(2), pages 280-293, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:103:y:2021:i:2:p:280-293
    DOI: 10.1162/rest_a_00889
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    Cited by:

    1. Casilda Lasso de la Vega & Oscar Volij & Federico Weinschelbaum, 2023. "When do more police induce more crime?," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 76(3), pages 759-778, October.
    2. Chalfin, Aaron & Mitre-Becerril, David & Williams, Morgan C., 2024. "Does Proactive Policing Really Increase Major Crime? A Replication Study of Sullivan and O'Keeffe (Nature Human Behaviour, 2017)," Journal of Comments and Replications in Economics (JCRE), ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 3(2024-6), pages 1-34.
    3. Drydakis, Nick, 2024. "Business Disruptions Due to Social Vulnerability and Criminal Activities in Urban Areas," IZA Discussion Papers 17321, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Elisa Facchetti, 2024. "Police infrastructure, police performance, and crime: Evidence from austerity cuts," IFS Working Papers W24/16, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    5. LeRoy, William, 2024. "Understanding policing in the aftermath of gun violence: Examining investigatory stops and crime in Chicago," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 234(C).
    6. Wang-Sheng Lee & Umair Khalil & David Johnston, 2024. "Religiosity and Crime: Evidence from a City-Wide Shock," Papers 2024-08, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    7. Boylan, Richard T., 2022. "Should cities disband their police departments?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    8. Maghularia, Rita & Uebelmesser, Silke, 2023. "Do immigrants affect crime? Evidence for Germany," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 211(C), pages 486-512.
    9. Blesse, Sebastian & Diegmann, André, 2022. "The place-based effects of police stations on crime: Evidence from station closures," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    10. Drydakis, Nick, 2024. "Business Disruptions Due to Social Vulnerability and Criminal Activities in Urban Areas," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1495, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    11. Kang, Songman & Kim, Duol, 2022. "Focus vs. spread: Police box consolidation and its impact on crime in Korea," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    12. Cho, Sungwoo & Gonçalves, Felipe & Weisburst, Emily, 2021. "Do Police Make Too Many Arrests? The Effect of Enforcement Pullbacks on Crime," IZA Discussion Papers 14907, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Federico Masera, 2022. "The economics of policing and crimeThe economics of policing and crime," Chapters, in: Paolo Buonanno & Paolo Vanin & Juan Vargas (ed.), A Modern Guide to the Economics of Crime, chapter 2, pages 12-29, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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