Heat and Law Enforcement

Arnold Behrer and Valentin Bolotnyy

No 10776, Policy Research Working Paper Series from The World Bank

Abstract: Using administrative criminal records from Texas, this paper shows how high temperatures affect the decision making of police officers, prosecutors, and judges. It finds that police reduce the number of arrests made per reported crime on the hottest days and that arrests made on these days are more likely to be dismissed in court. For prosecutors, high temperature on the day they announce criminal charges does not appear to affect the nature and severity of the charges. However, judges dismiss fewer cases, issue longer prison sentences, and levy higher fines whenruling on hot days. The results suggest that the psychological and cognitive consequences ofexposure to high temperatures have meaningful consequences for criminal defendants as they interact with the criminal justice system.

Date: 2024-05-16
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:10776

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