Deterrent Effects of the Police on Crime: A Replication and Theoretical Extension

Abstract

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Mirage of Police Reform: Procedural Justice and Police Legitimacy

“…Police claim that high levels of such police proactivity have crime-control benefits, and research tends to bear those claims out (Boydstun 1975; Sampson and Cohen 1988;Whitaker et al 1985; Wilson and Boland 1978; also see Cohen and Ludwig 2003;McGarrell et al 2001;Sherman and Rogan 1995;Rosenfeld et al 2014). But critics point to frequent violations of constitutional limits on police authority, and racially disparate impacts, as reasons to more closely regulate police-initiated contacts.…”

Moving Beyond the Individual: Examining the Effects of Domestic Violence Policies on Social Norms

“…Although this relationship seems likely especially if we examine history (e.g., drunk-driving legislation, civil rights laws, school integration, sexual harassment policies), it is nevertheless based on a theoretical view that implies cause and effect. Research examining the effectiveness of criminal justice policies on reducing targeted behaviors such as traffic crashes, drunk-driving, juvenile delinquency, neighborhood crime, and even pet clean-up (Evans, 1987;Hingson & Howland, 1989;Meares & Kahan, 1998;Sampson & Cohen, 1988;Webley & Siviter, 2000) has suggested that effectiveness or compliance may be linked to the policy's effect on social norms underlying the behavior (Hingson & Howland, 1989;Meares & Kahan, 1998), however, this link often has not been tested empirically. If the newly implemented law or policy does not "work through" existing social norms and lead to the emergence of new norms, then there is an increased probability the new law will be ineffective (Meares & Kahan, 1998).…”

Beware of Broken Windows! First Impressions in Public-Good Experiment

“…Correlation analysis supports the claim that the broken windows policy, measured by the number of traffic tickets (Wilson and Boland 1978), the number of arrests per police officer for disorderly conduct or driving under influence (Sampson and Cohen 1988) or of misdemeanour arrests (Kelling and Sousa 2001;Corman and Mocan 2005), contributed to the decline in serious crimes, even if one controls for economic conditions and for crime deterrence (Corman and Mocan 2005) (see also Cruz Melendez 2006: for the link to the "Moving to Opportunity" Program). Yet, other studies did not find a significant effect.…”