RT Article
T1 The Material of Policing: Budgets, Personnel and the United States’ Misdemeanour Arrest Decline
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 63
IS 2
SP 330
OP 347
A1 Beck, Brenden
A2 Holder, Eaven
A2 Novak, Abigail
A2 Kaplan, Jacob
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/183959537X
AB What accounts for the steady decline in misdemeanour arrest rates in the United States following their peak in the mid-1990s? This article links the fluctuation in low-level law enforcement to changes in the budget and staffing resources cities devoted to policing. This materialist explanation contrasts with accounts that emphasize policy changes like the adoption of community policing. Dynamic panel regression analyses of 940 municipalities indicate low-level arrest rates declined most in places that reduced their police expenditure and personnel, net of crime and other controls. The adoption of community policing was unrelated to misdemeanour arrests. Findings suggest lawmakers should consider how increasing police budgets or police force sizes will likely be accompanied by increases in misdemeanour arrests and their attendant harms.
DO 10.1093/bjc/azac005