Does the Rapid Deployment of Information to Police Improve Crime Solvability? A Quasi-Experimental Impact Evaluation of Real-Time Crime Center (RTCC) Technologies on Violent Crime Incident Outcomes

Abstract

Despite advances in police practices, national case clearance rates of violent crimes are at an all-time low. One recent trend in American policing involves the rapid deployment of various technology-derived information sources to police prior to, during, and immediately after their initial response to crime incidents. Housed within centralized local-level police department units, these often called “real-time crime centers” (RTCCs) have capitalized on technological innovations to harness a host of information with the intention of improving the ability of police to manage crime. To date, however, very little is known about their ability to improve police practice or their impact on crime solvability. This study entails the first to assess the impact of RTCC technologies on violent crime incident case clearances and time-to-clearance using a multi-method, quasi-experimental design. Results indicated after controlling for neighborhood, crime type, and case-level characteristics, RTCC-assisted cases had 66% better odds of being cleared compared to a randomly drawn control sample of cases not receiving RTCC support. Further, after controlling for case-level characteristics, no significant differences were found between the clearance times of RTCC-assisted and control sample cases. Implications for police practice are discussed.