Increased Police Presence Research Articles

“Crime” on the Field

Does a greater police presence cause crime rates to decrease? To answer this question, we circumvent common simultaneity and reverse causality issues by exploiting an experiment from college football. In 2013, the Big XII added an eighth referee to conference games only. Unique features of this experiment allow us to identify the causal effects of increased “police force” (officiating crew) size on observed “crime” (penalty) rates, and to distinguish between alternative mechanisms behind those effects. Overall, we find that the increased police presence causes an increase in the observed crime rate. This increase is largest in teams' first treated games, suggesting a substantial detection effect. However, the penalty rate decreases sharply in teams' second treated games, suggesting a large general deterrent effect. Under mild assumptions, results suggest that the general deterrent effect is partly due to players learning to avoid detection, but that the learning process involves errors over time.

Improving police services: Evidence from the French Quarter Task Force

This study sheds light on the improvement of police services by examining the French Quarter Task Force (FQTF) – an anti-crime program in New Orleans' French Quarter. First, we provide new evidence that increasing police presence is effective in crime prevention. Our difference-in-differences estimates suggest that the FQTF, which increased police visibility in the French Quarter, reduced robberies, aggravated assaults, and thefts by 37.4%, 16.9%, and 13%, respectively. Second, our findings imply that the proper use of monitoring and incentive strategies has the potential to further improve police services. Exploiting the program's change in management, we find that providing officers with more monitoring and performance incentives led the FQTF to reduce robberies by 22.12 and aggravated assaults by 5.56 each quarter.

"The Talk," Physician Version: Special Considerations for African American, Male Adolescents.

Police exist to ensure community safety. Unfortunately, whether because of an increased police presence in selected neighborhoods, implicit or explicit bias, or other factors, minority youth disproportionately experience negative encounters with police.1 Adolescent accounts of such encounters are distressing. Youth with whom we consulted recalled many, including 1 in which 2 adolescents were setting up a community event, and only the darker-skinned adolescent was stopped and questioned about his activity. Negative police interactions pose a threat to adolescents’ psychological and physical health. Physicians can address these patients’ experiences, educate them about their rights, and help them stay safe. Minority youth receive disproportionate police attention. In Chicago, ∼60% of surveyed African American and Latino high school students reported having been stopped by police, half of whom characterized the experience as negative and disrespectful.2 Of the young, African American boys surveyed, >70% reported a stop in 2002, which is >3 times the city average.3 Behavioral disparities do not explain such extreme trends. In New York City, African American people were far more likely to be stopped and frisked, although <3% of frisks revealed weapons or contraband, and white people were more likely to be found with such items.4 Such disparities may underlie negative attitudes about police among minority … Address correspondence to Barry Zuckerman, MD, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center/Boston University School of Medicine, 72 East Concord St, Room 324L, Boston, MA 02118. E-mail: barry.zuckerman{at}bmc.org

Preventing and combating hate crimes: Modern approach

A sufficient body of research, originally American and British, as well as practice has been accumulated in the last decades in the field of hate crime. Modern understanding of the issue distinguishes multinational and global character of the harm appearing due to hate crime, thus setting up topicality of this crucial problem. This paper is aimed at description of measures of effective prevention of hate crime and general considerations for an effective strategy of hate crime prevention and combating proposed by well recognized specialists in the field, mentioning prioritizing the response to hate crime within the police department, establishing multi-agency task forces, training police officers, responding to hate-crime victims’ needs, increasing police presence and attention in high-risk neighbourhoods, monitoring hate groups and tracking hate incidents, reaching out to minority communities, engaging educational institutions and the mass media. Reporting on recent development of Latvian Criminal Law regulation related to hate crime author sets up some specific problematic issues and discusses solution options.

Barriers to Physical and Mental Health: Understanding the Intersecting Needs of Cambodian and Latino Residents in Urban Communities.

A community needs assessment was conducted to explore barriers and facilitators to good physical and mental health among Cambodian and Latino residents in an urban community in Southern California. Thirty-six Cambodians and 29 Latinos completed the interviewer-facilitated survey administered door-to-door, and another 20 Cambodian and 18 Latino residents participated in focus groups. Crime, limited knowledge of positive health behaviors, lack of access to affordable healthcare, and lack of access to safe spaces for recreational activities were identified as threats to good health. Participant recommendations to support health in the community included increasing police presence to improve safety and reduce violence, and increasing opportunities/locations for physical exercise. While differences between Cambodian and Latino residents exist, the identified threats and suggested improvements were primarily associated with environmental factors, highlighting the need for systems level approaches that recognize the relationship between community context and health.

Mexico: Internal security, surveillance, and authoritarianism

The recent violence linked to drug trafficking in Mexico has been dealt with by the federal government by increasing police presence on the streets and involving the army in public safety activities. This has not decreased violence but has increased cases of human rights violation, and the capabilities of non-regulated surveillance and monitoring of the population. Thus, the new internal security law suggests that the police and the army will be able to “develop intelligence activities” by “any information gathering method.” They will also be able to require information from other authorities that they consider necessary to ensure “constitutional order,” as well as the “continuity” and “survival” of State institutions. The law has generated a wide public debate that contrasts two competing discourses.

Shaping the Public Perception Toward Local Authorities: The Role of Perceived Social, Economic, and Political Insecurities

The Philippines is currently experiencing increased police presence and intensified policing programs with President Duterte’s declaration of war against criminality and illegal drugs front lined by the Philippine National Police (PNP). While the country’s index crime rate is reportedly declining because of these heightened policing programs, this does not necessarily translate to a more positive Filipino public perception toward the police and other local law enforcement authorities. Using the Crime Risk Perceptions Survey of 1,200 households in Metro Manila, this study attempted to probe the individual and contextual level variables that potentially influence the Filipino perception toward the local authorities – police and local community brigade or barangay tanod. The findings of the paper showed that perceived insecurity exhibited negative impact on perceived satisfaction of respondents toward the performance of local authorities across all the five models. This result corroborates Easton’s (1965 cited in Brandl et al 1994) and Cao et al (1998, 2001, 2005) frameworks that perceptions toward the police is greatly determined by perceptions toward other institutions in the society.

Can rail pedestrian violations be deterred? An investigation into the threat of legal and non-legal sanctions

Collisions between trains and pedestrians continue to be the most likely accident to result in severe injuries and fatalities on the rail network. While a range of countermeasures have been utilised in an attempt to reduce the incidence of risky behaviours at level crossings, limited focus has been directed towards deterrence-based approaches to improve crossing safety. As a result, this study explored pedestrians’ perceptions of legal and non-legal sanctions at level crossings, with particular emphasis directed towards identifying factors that maximise perceptual deterrence and reduce the occurrence of rule violations. In total, 636 individuals volunteered to participate in the study that required completion of either an online or paper version of a questionnaire that focused on behaviours and perceptions. Participants were more likely to report intentionally violating level crossing rules (24.52%, n=156) compared to making crossing errors (3.46%, n=22). Knowledge of the possibility of sanctions (e.g., monetary fines) was low. The threat of being injured and feeling shame when breaching crossing rules were the highest reported perceptual deterrent factors, higher even than the certainty and severity of sanctions. Regression analysis revealed that males who had lower perceptions of certainty of apprehension and displayed a tendency to repeat the behaviour were most likely to deliberately break crossing rules. However, this group also recognised the physical risks of violating rules and that it breached social norms. In regards to identifying effective countermeasures, increasing police presence was considered the most effective approach to reduce violations, which is directly linked to deterrence processes such as increasing perceptual certainty. This paper will further outline the study findings in regards to perceptual deterrence-based research as well as provide direction for future research efforts to develop effective countermeasures designed to improve pedestrian safety.

Police legitimacy and disrupting overt drug markets

Purpose Overt drug markets are particularly difficult to address using traditional law enforcement tactics alone; disrupting these markets often requires substantial community cooperation. Enhancing police-community relations has been offered as a promising strategy for closing overt markets, demonstrating sustained success in several settings. The purpose of this paper is to examine theoretical mechanisms hypothesized to create immediate and sustained disruption in overt drug markets, focusing on the role of strengthened police/community relations, and greater police legitimacy. Design/methodology/approach The manuscript describes a series of focus groups with community residents across three sites over 15-months after a drug market intervention. A repeated cross-sectional design enabled in-depth analysis of study participants’ views regarding mechanisms of change over time. Findings Study participants remained ambivalent about police legitimacy; they expressed appreciation regarding local policing efforts to improve neighborhood conditions, but maintained many negative feelings about the overall policing profession. Further, residents worried that the increased police presence might lead to greater harassment. Regardless of their misgivings, however, the findings reveal increases in police cooperation and improvements in some previously identified components of police legitimacy. Practical implications There is partial support for several underlying mechanisms of change over time. Study participants perceived a more focused police response, resulting in disruptions of the market and sustained improvements in neighborhood conditions. Originality/value This reflects original work not published elsewhere. It contributes to a growing body of literature on the role of police legitimacy in problem-solving interventions.

Los determinantes económicos de la delincuencia: Santiago de Chile 2001-2009

En este artículo se analiza el fenómeno de la delincuencia en Santiago de Chile a lo largo de la última década. En primer lugar, se realiza un análisis descriptivo –composición y tendencias en el nivel de criminalidad, percepción social de la delincuencia y situación de Chile en el mundo– y, a continuación, se efectúa un análisis empírico en el que las categorías de homicidio y robo con fuerza son explicadas a partir de una batería de variables socioeconómicas. Los homicidios son mayoritariamente cometidos por hombres en las comunas más densamente pobladas y en aquellas con mayor déficit educacional. Por el contrario, la gran mayoría de los robos se produce en las comunas ricas, donde la mayor presencia policial no permite compensar la incidencia de condicionantes estructurales como la desigualdad de ingresos.

Interrupting a legacy of hatred: Friches Théâtre Urbain's Lieu Commun

ABSTRACTIn a violent clash between rival gangs from Asnières and Gennevilliers in the banlieue north of Paris, a 15-year-old boy was killed at the metro station Les Courtilles, the last stop on Line 13. Inevitably, revenge attacks occurred. Security was heightened with hundreds of police patrolling the area, but residents and city officials alike understood that increased police presence alone would never be a long-term solution. Realising the need for radically different approaches to halt an escalation of violence, city officials, asked Sarah Harper, Artistic Director of Friches Théâtre Urbain, a street theatre company in Paris, to develop a community-based art-making project that would augment attempts by the youth workers and others to defuse the volatile situation. In Lieu Commun, the multi-faceted project lasting 20 months, Harper developed innovative approaches to collaborative art-making resulting in vibrant public art that repeatedly interrupted the legacy of hatred between Asnières and Gennevilliers. The slow process of collaborative art-making began with symbolic links between the residents of the two towns rather than face-to-face contact, an innovative approach that eased the way for more profound activist cooperation. The co-created public art took the form of elaborate, often mobile, performance installations that began to replace the narrative of conflict that had become customary for Asnières and Gennevilliers with an opposing narrative of cooperation, both depicted in the art product and practiced in the art-making. Community collaboration in the creation of this ephemeral public art played a significant role not only in changing the character of the confrontational and often dangerous public space of the metro station, but also in altering attitudes of both residents and city officials toward the potential for art to foster cooperation and active citizenship.

A risk and cost–benefit analysis of police counter-terrorism operations at Australian airports

Recent events have highlighted the vulnerabilities of airports and aircraft to terrorist attack, and has led to an increased police presence at many airports. Airport policing is designed to protect airport terminals and aircraft from terrorist attack. This paper assesses the risks and cost-effectiveness of Australian Federal Police (AFP) airport counter-terrorism (CT) policing at Australian airports. The risk reduction of AFP policing, losses from a successful attack, threat likelihood, and cost of AFP policing are quantified. The benefit-to-cost ratio is then calculated for various threat probabilities. A ‘break-even’ analysis calculates the minimum threat probability or risk reduction needed for AFP airport CT policing to be cost-effective. Airport CT policing begins to become cost-effective if it reduces risk by approximately 25 percent and if the probability of one attack at any airport in Australia exceeds 5 percent per year. These conditions do not seem prevail, but it does not follow that zero spending on airport CT policing is the preferred policy option. Moreover, the co-benefits of airport CT policing—such as reduction in crime and reassurance to the traveling public—may be considerable, and could dramatically improving the cost-effectiveness of the measure.

Violence, Networks, and International Migration from Colombia

AbstractAlthough Colombia is a major country of emigration, little is known about its citizens' motivations for migration. Social and economic conditions have been studied as determinants of migration, but violence has received less attention. We examine how social networks and violence function to promote emigration from Colombia by linking event‐history data from the Latin American Migration Project to external data on violence and economic conditions. We show that emigration is more likely to be initiated by those with higher education, those with network connections to migrants, and during periods of greater violence and increased police presence. Although violence acts powerfully to determine when people migrate, the geographic distribution of social capital determines where they go. Not surprisingly, migrants go to locations where people in their social networks are currently living or have been earlier.

Disorder affects judgements about a neighbourhood: police presence does not

Many police forces operate a policy of high visibility in disordered neighbourhoods with high crime. However, little is known about whether increased police presence influences people’s beliefs about a neighbourhood’s social environment or their fear of crime. Three experimental studies compared people’s perceptions of social capital and fear of crime in disordered and ordered neighbourhoods, either with a police presence or no police presence. In all studies, neighbourhood disorder lowered perceptions of social capital, resulting in a higher fear of crime. Police presence or absence had no significant effect. The pervasive effects of disorder above other environmental cues are discussed.

HIV Test Avoidance Among People Who Inject Drugs in Thailand

Case identification is a key component of HIV prevention efforts; yet rates of HIV testing remain low in some settings. We explored factors associated with HIV test avoidance among people who inject drugs (IDU) in Thailand. Between July and October 2011, 350 Thai IDU participated in the study. In bivariate analyses, male gender, high intensity drug use, syringe sharing, increased police presence, and being refused healthcare services were positively associated with HIV test avoidance, while ever receiving a hepatitis C test was negatively associated. Our findings highlight the need for interventions to reduce stigma in this setting.

Crime as Pollution

T he point of departure of this provocative article by John and Emily Eck (2012, this issue) is a striking empirical regularity uncovered by Sherman, Gartin, and Buerger (1989). Sherman et al. found that only 3% of addresses and intersections (“places,” as they were called) in Minneapolis produced 50% of all calls to the police. Weisburd and Green (1995) found that 20% of all disorder crime and 14% of crimes against persons in Jersey City, NJ, originated from 56 drug crime hot spots. Twenty five years later in a study of Seattle, WA, Weisburd, Bushway, Lum, and Yang (2004) reported that between 4% and 5% of street segments in the city accounted for 50% of crime incidents for each year over a 14-year period. Other more recent studies finding comparable crime concentrations include Brantingham and Brantingham (1999), Eck, Gersh, and Taylor (2000), and Roncek (2000). The observation that crime is concentrated at a discrete location gave rise to what has come to be called “place-based” policing in which police are deployed and managed to prevent crime at specific locations. The quintessential example of placed-based policing is greatly increasing police presence at crime hot spots. Braga’s (2008) informative review of hot spots policing summarizes the findings from nine experimental or quasi-experimental evaluations. The studies were conducted in five large U.S. cities and one suburb of Australia. Crime-incident reports and citizen calls for service were used to evaluate impacts in and around the geographic area of the crime hot spot. The targets of the police actions varied. Some hot spots were generally high-crime locations, whereas others were characterized by specific crime problems like drug trafficking. All but two studies found evidence of significant reductions in crime. Furthermore, no evidence was found of material crime

Impact of increased police presence in a non-criminogenic area

Police experiments typically study saturation patrols and crackdown initiatives in high crime areas. Similarly, some evaluation efforts focus on the efficacy of problem-solving techniques to reduce offending rates in crime hot spots. However, little academic attention has been paid to the impact of these types of approaches on affluent neighborhoods because these types of crime control initiative are not routinely carried out in intact neighborhoods. This research examines the impact of saturation patrols in affluent neighborhoods and its effect on offender behavior.

Terror and the costs of crime

This paper argues that terrorism, beyond its immediate impact on innocent victims, also raises the costs of crime, and therefore, imposes a negative externality on potential criminals. Terrorism raises the costs of crime through two channels: (i) by increasing the presence and activity of the police force, and (ii) causing more people to stay at home rather than going out for leisure activities. Our analysis exploits a panel of 120 fatal terror attacks and all reported crimes for 17 districts throughout Israel between 2000 and 2005. After controlling for the fixed-effect of each district and for district-specific time trends, we show that terror attacks reduce property crimes such as burglary, auto-theft, and thefts-from-cars. Terror also reduces assaults and aggravated assaults which occur in private homes, but increases incidents of trespassing and “disrupting the police.” Taken as a whole, the results are consistent with a stronger deterrence effect produced by an increased police presence after a terror attack. A higher level of policing is likely to catch more people trespassing, and at the same time, reduce the number of property crimes. The decline in crimes committed in private houses is likely an indication that the tendency for individuals to stay home after a terror attack further increases the costs of crime.

Drug use patterns among Thai illicit drug injectors amidst increased police presence

Thailand has traditionally pursued an aggressive enforcement-based anti-illicit drug policy in an effort to make the country "drug-free." In light of this ongoing approach, we sought to assess impacts of enforcement on drug use behaviors among a cohort of injection drug users (IDU) in Thailand. We examined drug use patterns among IDU participating in a cross-sectional study conducted in Bangkok (n = 252). Participants were asked to provide data regarding patterns of drug use in the previous six months, including types of drugs consumed, method of consumption, frequency of use, and weekly income spent on drugs. We also conducted bivariate analyses to identify a possible effect of a reported increase in police presence on measures of drug use and related risk behaviors among study participants. One hundred fifty-five (61.5%) individuals reported injection heroin use and 132 (52.4%) individuals reported injection midazolam use at least daily in the past six months. Additionally, 86 (34.1%) individuals reported at least daily injection Yaba and Ice (i.e., methamphetamine) use. Participants in our study reported high levels of illicit drug use, including the injection of both illicit and licit drugs. In bivariate analyses, no association between increased police presence and drug use behaviors was observed. These findings demonstrate high ongoing rates of drug injecting in Thailand despite reports of increased levels of strict enforcement and enforcement-related violence, and raise questions regarding the merits of this approach.

School resource officers and the criminalization of student behavior

As school resource officer (SRO) programs continue to be widely implemented, there is concern that an increasing police presence at schools will “criminalize” student behavior by moving problematic students to the juvenile justice system rather than disciplining them at school. If true, this has serious implications for students and schools; yet research on this topic is limited and the discourse is often based on speculation or anecdotal evidence. To address this issue, this study evaluated the impact of SROs on school-based arrest rates by comparing arrests at thirteen schools with an SRO to fifteen schools without an SRO in the same district. Poisson and negative binomial regression models showed that having an SRO did not predict more total arrests, but did predict more arrests for disorderly conduct. Conversely, having an SRO decreased the arrest rate for assault and weapons charges. Implications of these findings for understanding SROs and their role in criminalizing student behavior are discussed.