IMPACT OF POLICE CRIME AND CRIME ON POLICE - A SYNTHESIS OF THE ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL APPROCHES

• NCJ Number: 13790
• Author(s): J I CHAPMAN
• Date Published: 1973
• Length: 27 pages
• Corporate Author: University of California, Los Angeles
• Publication Format: Document
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

AN HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC AND ECOLOGICAL CRIME CAUSE THEORIES, DERIVATION OF A MATHEMATICAL MODEL COMBINING THESE APPROACHES, AND CONCLUSIONS AS TO THE VALIDITY OF THE RESULTS.

Abstract

THE ECOLOGICAL SCHOOL OF CRIME STUDIES THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF CRIME RATES AND COMPARES THESE WITH DISTRIBUTIONS OF OTHER ATTRIBUTES OF POPULATION AGGREGATES. AN ECONOMIST WOULD POSTULATE A CRIMINAL WHO WOULD ACT IN A RATIONAL MANNER TO MAXIMIZE UTILITY AND ACHIEVE A NET MONETARY GAIN. THE UNDERLYING ELEMENT USED TO UNIFY THESE APPROACHES IS THE EXPECTED WAGE OF CRIME. IT IS GENERALLY ASSUMED THAT THE HIGHER THE PAYOFF FROM GOING INTO CRIME, THE GREATER THE CHANCES OF AN INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATING IN ILLEGAL ACTIVITY. YET, THESE VARIOUS PAYOFFS FROM COMMITTING VARIOUS KINDS OF CRIME ARE HIGHLY DEPENDENT ON THE ENVIRONMENT THAT SURROUNDS THE INDIVIDUAL, SINCE THIS ENVIRONMENT COLORS THE INDIVIDUAL'S PERCEPTION OF THE PAYOFF. IN GENERAL, THE CONCLUSIONS OF THIS ANALYSIS ARE QUITE PESSIMISTIC FOR ECONOMISTS AND LAW AND ORDER ADVOCATES. FOR ECONOMISTS, BECAUSE THE ECONOMIC RATIONALE BEHIND CRIMES MAY BE EITHER UNIMPORTANT (AS IN PROPERTY CRIMES) OR PERVERSE (AS IN VIOLENT CRIMES). THUS, WHEN THE ECONOMIC RATIONALE IS CONSIDERED ALONG WITH THE CRIMINAL'S ENVIRONMENT, THE ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES SEEM TO DOMINATE. FOR LAW AND ORDER ADVOCATES, THE RESULTS ARE NEARLY AS BAD. IN GENERAL, THE CHANCE OF BEING ARRESTED SEEMS TO HAVE LITTLE DETERRENT EFFECT ON THE CRIMINAL, AND THEREFORE, INCREASING THE ARREST RATE WILL DO LITTLE TO REDUCE CRIME. THUS, EVEN THOUGH POLICEMEN ARE IMPORTANT IN GENERATING ARREST RATES (BUT NOT FOR VIOLENT CRIME ARREST RATES) AND FEAR OF ECONOMIC LOSS IS IMPORTANT IN THE DEMAND FOR POLICE, ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ARE STILL DOMINANT WITH RESPECT TO CRIMES COMMITTED. UNFORTUNATELY, ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ARE NOT USUALLY AMENABLE TO QUICK CHANGES. CRIME RATES, THEN, WOULD ALSO APPEAR TO BE DIFFICULT TO CHANGE IN THE SHORT RUN. EVEN IF THE TEMPTATION TO IMMEDIATELY INCREASE POLICE PROVIDED IS YIELDED TO, THE RESULTING RISE IN ARREST RATES WILL STILL HAVE A MINIMAL INFLUENCE ON THE CRIME RATE. THUS, CRIME APPEARS TO BE A LONG-RUN PROBLEM. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)