Police accreditation and clearance rates

Abstract

Purpose-To examine whether accredited police agencies display higher clearance rates than their non-accredited counterparts. Design/methodology/approach-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. Findings-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. Research limitations/implications-Much of what is currently known about the impact of accreditation stems from anecdotal and testimonial evidence. Still, the industry manages to expand and flourish. A glaring need for sound empirical research is evident. Practical implication-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. Originality/value-Advocates link accreditation status to a number of benefits, including better investigatory practices that culminate in more solved cases. Recent academic work suggests that accreditation has dubious benefits, despite claims to the contrary. This study adds to that literature by showing that accreditation also fails to elevate clearance rates.

“I Suck at Everything”: Crime, Arrest, and the Generality of Failure

“…So if committing crime is not all that hard to do, it might logically follow that one should find it is pretty easy to get away with most criminal activity. This idea is confirmed by research demonstrating that clearance rates for a wide variety of crimes—even really serious ones like armed robbery and homicide—are far from 100 percent (Doerner and Doerner, 2012; Roberts, 2014). Even for crimes like driving while intoxicated—an offense that carries extremely stiff penalties all around the country (Yao, Johnson, and Beck, 2014)—research has indicated that the odds of getting caught can be upwards of 1 in 200 (Beitel, Sharp, and Glauz, 2000).…”

Homicide clearance in Western Europe

“…In these statistics, homicides are coded as a by-product of another felony – for example, a homicide committed in the course of a robbery is coded as a ‘robbery gone wrong’ rather than a homicide (Finch, 2001). Much of the homicide clearance literature to date relies on data from the United States (Alderden and Lavery, 2007; Davis et al, 2014; Doerner and Doerner, 2012; Jarvis and Regoeczi, 2009; Keel et al, 2009; Litwin and Xu, 2007; Quinet and Nunn, 2014; Regoeczi et al, 2008; Riedel and Boulahanis, 2007; Roberts, 2007; Roberts and Lyons, 2009, 2011; Schroeder and White, 2009; Taylor et al, 2009). So far, it has not been possible to compare homicide clearance rates between European countries, owing to differences in definitions, data sources and criminal justice procedures.…”

Marijuana Legalization and Crime Clearance Rates: Testing Proponent Assertions in Colorado and Washington State

“…As Cullen (2016) highlights in his broader discussion of the relationship between resource allocations and crime, there is much we do not know. Traditional research on resource allocation and crime has primarily concerned case-level management (i.e., specialized units and deployment of officers), organizational factors (agency size and centralization or decentralization), and contextual or environmental factors (Doerner & Doerner, 2012). Yet, there is also evidence that legal changes and political decisions can affect police outcomes (White, 2003), in addition to standard case and organizational explanations.…”