NCJ Number
154273
Journal
Applied Economics Volume: 24 Dated: (1992) Pages: 679-692
Date Published
1992
Length
14 pages
Annotation
This study investigates the relationships among drug offenses, property crime, and the allocation of police resources with a structural model that uses data from Florida counties.
Abstract
Empirical analysis of the implications of the economic theory of crime has evolved to the point where a standard model is used. The supply of offenses and the demand for law enforcement services are assumed to be simultaneously determined in a structural model. Such a model is used in this study to explain the property crime rate, but with a significant departure from the existing literature, in that it considers the impact of the drug market on the supply of property crime and the demand for police resources. The model is tested by using data from Florida's 67 counties for 1986 and 1987. Testing the economic theory of crime is limited by the available data, which does not allow precise quantification of many of the variables that are theoretically relevant. Thus, proxy variables must be used. The model shows that law enforcement resources are finite and scarce; as efforts to combat drug crime increase, the amount of these resources allocated to property crime is reduced. This reallocation of police resources results in reduced deterrence for property crime and, as a result, an increase in these crimes. The evidence presented in this study thus suggests that the increasing number of property crimes in Florida are at least partially due to drug enforcement policy. 3 tables and 33 references