Assessing Police Technical Efficiency and the COVID-19 Technological Change from the Pact for Life Perspective

Abstract

The Pact for Life program was one of Brazil’s most successful initiatives in coping with an elevated incidence of deliberate lethal violent crimes (CVLI) within the jurisdiction of Pernambuco. It delineated the state into 26 Integrated Security Areas (AIS) and applied strategies to combine investigative and ostensive policing. Nevertheless, the pandemic shifted the production possibility of public security in directions that justify empirical investigations, not sufficiently covered in the current literature. This study employs variable returns to scale data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Malmquist productivity index (MPI) models to measure police efficiency and technology changes from 2019 to 2020. The proposed framework can be particularly suitable to capture changes in the production frontier resulting from technological advancements or regressions, which might otherwise be overlooked. Through a quantitative analysis, this research offers a comprehensive assessment of AISs and the operational performance of the Civil Police, emphasizing efficiency metrics and avenues for enhancement within a production-oriented context.