NCJ Number
59656
Date Published
1977
Length
36 pages
Annotation
AN ECONOMIC MODEL USING PRODUCTION POSSIBILITIES FUNCTION WITH MULTIPLE INPUTS AND OUTPUTS IS USED TO CHARACTERIZE A SAMPLE OF MEDIUM-SIZED CITY POLICE DEPARTMENTS IN TERMS OF OPTIMIZING FIRMS IN ECONOMIC THEORY.
Abstract
POLICE OUTPUTS WERE DEFINED AS GENERAL SERVICE ACTIVITIES, SUCH AS TRAFFIC CONTROL AND EMERGENCY FIRST AID CARE, AND CRIME SOLVING ACTIVITIES. IN CONTRAST TO PREVIOUS STUDIES, THIS MODEL'S GENERAL FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION PERMITTED TESTING HYPOTHESES IMPLICIT IN EARLIER STUDIES. POLICE ADMINISTRATORS' DECISIONS WERE FOUND TO BE CONSISTENT WITH COST MINIMIZATION. IN ADDITION, OUTPUTS WERE DEFINITELY JOINT RATHER THAN SEPARABLE, THEREBY PREVENTING ESTIMATION OF A SEPARATE PRODUCTION AND/OR COST FUNCTION FOR EACH OUTPUT. MOREOVER, PREVIOUS HYPOTHESES OF CONSTANT RETURNS TO SCALE WERE REJECTED BECAUSE SCALE ECONOMICS VARIED CONSIDERABLY WITH ACTIVITY LEVELS. IT WAS THEREFORE INAPPROPRIATE TO USE COBB-DOUGLAS PRODUCTION FUNCTIONS TO STUDY LAW ENFORCEMENT PRODUCTION. A CONSISTENT INDEX OF BURGLARY, ROBBERY, AND LARCENY SOLUTIONS COULD BE CALCULATED FROM THE SAMPLES, THEREBY MAKING USE OF AN AGGREGATE SUCH AS 'NONAUTOMOBILE THEFTS' ACCEPTABLE FOR DECISIONMAKING WITHOUT INFORMATION LOSS. FUTURE RESEARCH SHOULD FOCUS ON SEPARATE CRIMES AGAINST THE PERSON. PRELIMINARY WORK INDICATED THAT COSTS FOR CLEARING HOMICIDES ARE AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE GREATER THAN THAT FOR ANY OTHER POLICE ACTIVITY. DETAILED THEORETICAL BACKGROUND, EQUATIONS USED, TABLES OF PARAMETER ESTIMATES, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (CFW)