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Police Accreditation and Clearance Rates

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  • William M. Doerner

    (Florida State University, Department of Economics)

  • William G. Doerner

    (Florida State University, College of Criminology & Criminal Justice)

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether accredited police agencies display higher clearance rates than their non-accredited counterparts. The study group consists of all municipal police departments operating continuously in the State of Florida from 1997 through 2006. Independent variables capture organizational characteristics for nearly 260 agencies to determine whether becoming accredited improves clearance rates. Random-effects tobit analysis suggests that accreditation status does not affect violent and property crime clearance rates. Clearance rates are more influenced by the number of sworn personnel and law enforcement expenditures per capita. Instead of advancing the protection of local communities and bringing about meaningful organizational reform, accreditation appears to be a useful tool for bureaucrats who wish to further their own careers.

Suggested Citation

  • William M. Doerner & William G. Doerner, 2010. "Police Accreditation and Clearance Rates," Working Papers wp2010_06_01, Department of Economics, Florida State University, revised Aug 2010.
    • Handle: RePEc:fsu:wpaper:wp2010_06_01
    DOI: 10.1108/13639511211215423
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. McCabe, Kimberly A. & Fajardo, Robin G., 2001. "Law enforcement accreditation: A national comparison of accredited vs. nonaccredited agencies," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 127-131.
    2. Allison, Stuart F.H. & Schuck, Amie M. & Lersch, Kim Michelle, 2005. "Exploring the crime of identity theft: Prevalence, clearance rates, and victim/offender characteristics," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 19-29.
    3. Dale O. Cloninger & Lester C. Sartorius, 1979. "Crime Rates, Clearance Rates and Enforcement Effort: The Case of Houston, Texas," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(4), pages 389-402, October.
    4. Doerner, William G. & Doerner, William M., 2008. "The Diffusion of Accreditation Among Florida Police Agencies," MPRA Paper 86545, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised Apr 2009.
    5. Roberts, Aki, 2008. "The influences of incident and contextual characteristics on crime clearance of nonlethal violence: A multilevel event history analysis," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 61-71, March.
    6. Carter, David L. & Sapp, Allen D., 1994. "Issues and perspectives of law enforcement accreditation: A national study of police chiefs," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 22(3), pages 195-204.
    7. Lee, Catherine, 2005. "The value of life in death: Multiple regression and event history analyses of homicide clearance in Los Angeles County," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 527-534.
    8. Jang, Hyunseok & Hoover, Larry T. & Lawton, Brian A., 2008. "Effect of broken windows enforcement on clearance rates," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 529-538, November.
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    Cited by:

    1. William M. Doerner & William G. Doerner, 2011. "Collective Bargaining and Job Benefits in Florida Municipal Police Agencies, 2000-2009," Working Papers wp2011_01_02, Department of Economics, Florida State University, revised Oct 2012.
    2. Richard Johnson, 2015. "Examining the Effects of Agency Accreditation on Police Officer Behavior," Public Organization Review, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 139-155, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    police; accreditation; innovation; police reform; performance management;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H40 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - General
    • H76 - Public Economics - - State and Local Government; Intergovernmental Relations - - - Other Expenditure Categories
    • K0 - Law and Economics - - General
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

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