RT Article
T1 Crime, detection rate, and the police: A macro approach
JF Journal of quantitative criminology
VO 8
IS 1
SP 113
OP 131
A1 Tulder, Frank
LA English
YR 1992
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/176427802X
AB Dutch criminality and its relation to the performance of police and justice have only recently been analyzed at the macro level (e.g., at the level of municipalities or the whole country). This type of approach is a useful supplement to analyses at the micro level (that of individuals), which are more common in Dutch empirical criminological research. The main results of such a macro approach are presented in this article. We conclude that the per capita numbers of youth, divorced people, and unemployed contribute significantly to the crime rate. The police strength and solving rates are important factors as well. Analysis of the production process of the police reveals that detecting one more case of driving under the influence is far more expensive than solving one more other crime or handling one more traffic accident. The results are combined to sketch a cost-benefit approach of different strategies in allocating more resources to the police. Allocating extra resources to solving more cases of vandalism gives the best cost-benefit ratio.
K1 Cost-benefit analysis
K1 Police
K1 Economics
K1 detection rate
K1 Crime
DO 10.1007/BF01062762