The ability of municipal police departments to affect crime is a complex issue. The selection of independent variables for such analysis has received considerable attention. Perhaps more problematic has been the selection and measurement of the dependent variable, crime. This article examines the impact offive police variables: expenditures, manpower, municipal police effort, technological innovations, and police reform. Three measures of crime are used: UCR data, arrests, and victimization reports. No clear pattern of effect or direction of relationship was observedfor the 25 cities under study.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Beattie, R.H.Criminal statistics in the United States
. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminologr and Police Science, 1960, 51, 49-51.
2.
Booth, A.
, Johnson, D., & Choldin, H.Correlates of city crime rates: Victimization surveys versus official crime rates. Social Problems, 1977, 25, 187-197.
3.
Claren, S.N.
, & Schwartz, A.I.Measuring a program's impact: A cautionary note. In W.G. Skogan (Ed.), Sample surveys of the ic tims of (rimnes. Cambridge: Ballinger, 1976.
4.
Cloninger, D.O.The deterrent effect of law enforcement: An evaluation of recent findings and some new evidence
. American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 1947, 34, 323-335.
5.
Decker, S.H.Crime rates and victim surveys: An empirical comparison
. Journal of Criminal Justice, 1977, 5, 47-54.
6.
Decker, S. H.The allocation of police resources and fluctuations in crime rates: An empirical model. In D. Peterson (Ed.), Thepolice: Strategies and outcomes in law enforcement. Beverly Hills: Sage, 1979.
7.
Fogelson, R.M.Big city police. Cambridge: Harvard, 1977.
8.
Fox, J.A.Crime trends and police expenditures: An investigation of the lag structure
. Evaluation Quarterly, 1979, 3, 41-58.
9.
Greenwood, M.J.
, & Wadycki, W.J.Crime rates and public expenditures for police protection: Their interaction. Review of Social Economy, 1973, 31, 138-151.
10.
Kitsuse, J.E.
, & Cicourel, A.V.A note on the uses of official statistics. Social Problems, 1963, 11, 131-139.
11.
Land, K.C.
, & Felson, M.A general framework for building dynamic macro social indicator models: Including an analysis of changes in crime rates and police expenditures. American Journal of Sociology, 1976, 83, 565-605.
12.
Levine, J.P.The potential for crime overreporting in criminal victimization surveys
. Criminology, 1976, 14, 103-107.
13.
Maltz, M.D.Crime statistics: A mathematical perspective
. Journal of Criminal Justice, 1975, 3, 177-194.
14.
Manning, P.K.The police: Mandate, strategies, and appearances. In J.D. Douglas (Ed.), Crime andjustice in American society. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1971.
15.
Pressman, I.
, & Carol, A.Crime as a diseconomy of scale. Review of Social Economi, 1971, 19, 227-236.
16.
Reiss, A.J.The police and the public. New Haven: Yale, 1972.
17.
Robison, S.A critical view of the Uniform Crime Reports
. Michigan Law Review, 1966, 64, 1031-1054.
18.
Seidman, D.
, & Couzins, M.Getting the crime rate down: Political pressure and crime reporting. Law and Society Review, 1974, 8,457-493.
19.
Skogan, W.G.The validity of official crime statistics: An empirical investigation
. Social Science Quarterly, 1974, 55, 25-38.
20.
Skogan, W.G.Efficiency and effectiveness in big-city police departments
. Public Administration Review, 1976, 36, 278-286.
21.
Swimmer, G.The relationship of police and crime
. Criminology, 1974, 12, 293-314.
22.
Votey, H.
, & Phillips, L.An economic analysis of the deterrent effect of law enforcement on criminal activity. Journal of Criminal Law, Criminology and Police Science, 1972, 63, 330-342.
23.
Weninger, E.P.
, & Clark, J.P.A theoretical orientation for police studies. In M. Klein (Ed.), Juvenile gangs in context. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1967.
24.
Wilson, J.Varieties of police behavior. Cambridge: Harvard, 1977.
