Applying Regulatory Measures to Address Crime Problems: An AGILE Approach to Enhancing Public Safety

Abstract

This article synthesizes research on regulatory measures to prevent crime, examining the actors, contexts, and methods of regulation, along with associated costs, impacts, and unintended consequences. I find that to successfully combat crime, regulatory measures need to be adaptable to the specific crime and its situational context; germane to both the actors intended to invoke, enforce, and respond to the regulation and to the geographic and jurisdictional context of the crime; incentive-based to encourage compliance; legitimate and equitable in imposition and impact; and evaluated, using evidence during and after implementation to document unintended impacts, costs, and benefits. I use the acronym AGILE as shorthand for these successful regulatory schemes. I conclude that the policy implications of AGILE regulatory reforms can yield more cost-efficient and equitable criminal justice outcomes when they are properly developed, implemented, and incentivized.