RT Article
T1 The Impact of Police Strength and Arrest Productivity on Fear of Crime and Subjective Assessments of the Police
JF American journal of criminal justice
VO 42
IS 1
SP 86
OP 111
A1 Hauser, Will
A2 Kleck, Gary 1951-
LA English
YR 2017
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1764207610
AB We explore the effect of police strength and arrest productivity on citizens’ fear of crime and perceived risk of victimization, as well as their subjective perceptions of the police including their confidence in the police and ratings of police response time. Police strength is measured as the rate of officers per 1,000 and productivity is calculated as the average number of arrests per officer; we also controlled for the crime rate using crimes reported to the police. We use nationally representative survey data ( n = 1,005) and conduct a supplemental analysis of data drawn from a representative sample of urban counties ( n = 1,500). Police force size and productivity have limited and inconsistent effects on fear of crime, perceived risk, and ratings of response time and no apparent effects on confidence in the police. We also find a modest yet statistically significant negative effect of police confidence on fear of crime. Our findings indicate that it is questionable whether adding more police will reduce fear or perceived risk of victimization to any measurable degree. Consequently, we suggest that rather than hiring binges and increased arrests, the focus should be instead on making positive contacts with citizens.
K1 Police response time ratings
K1 Confidence in police
K1 Arrest productivity
K1 Police strength
K1 Fear of crime
DO 10.1007/s12103-016-9334-x