The Impact of the First Professional Police Forces on Crime

Anna Bindler and Randi Hjalmarsson

No 53, ECONtribute Discussion Papers Series from University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany

Abstract: This paper evaluates the effect on crime of creating a fundamental modern-day institution: centralized professional police forces tasked with preventing crime. We study the 1829 formation of the London Metropolitan Police – the first professional force worldwide. Using newly digitized and geocoded crime and police data together with difference-indifferences and pre-post designs, we find evidence of a significant reduction in violent crimes (despite the possibility of off-setting increases in clearance and reporting rates). In contrast, a reduction in property crime is not visible.

Keywords: police; crime; deterrence; economic history; institutions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H0 K42 N93 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 69 pages
Date: 2021
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-law and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

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https://www.econtribute.de/RePEc/ajk/ajkdps/ECONtribute_053_2021.pdf First version, 2021 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: The Impact of the First Professional Police Forces on Crime (2021)
Working Paper: The Impact of the First Professional Police Forces on Crime (2019)
Working Paper: The Impact of the First Professional Police Forces on Crime (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ajk:ajkdps:053

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