Crime is Terribly Revealing: Information Technology and Police Productivity

Giovanni Mastrobuoni ()

The Review of Economic Studies, 2020, vol. 87, issue 6, 2727-2753

Abstract: An increasing number of police departments use information technology (IT) to optimize patrolling strategies, yet little is known about its effectiveness in preventing crime. Based on quasi-random access to “predictive policing,” this study shows that IT improves police productivity as measured by crime clearance rates. Thanks to detailed information on individual incidents and offender-level identifiers it also shows that criminals strategies are predictable. Moreover, the introduction of predictive policing coincides with a large negative trend-discontinuity in crime rates. The benefit–cost ratio of this IT innovation appears to be large.

Keywords: Predictive policing; IT; Information technology; Police; Crime; Robberies; Clearance rate; Arrest; Quasi-experiment; O33; K42; L23; H1; H41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (15)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:restud:v:87:y:2020:i:6:p:2727-2753.

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