RT Article
T1 Defunding the police through shared service agreements: the impact on cost savings, staffing, and public safety using a bias-corrected synthetic control analysis
JF Criminology & public policy
VO 22
IS 3
SP 561
OP 584
A1 Mazeika, David
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1869512340
AB New Jersey (NJ) is home to more than 460 municipal police departments, including close to 60 with fewer than 11 officers. In total, the state spends around $3 billion per year on policing, 20% of the typical municipal budget. In recent history, seven NJ municipalities have disbanded their local force and contracted services with a neighbor. Using the bias-corrected synthetic control method, results from this study reveal these locations saved on average $143 per person per year, close to 300,000 Dollar per municipality. There were fewer officers in the contracting force per capita postcontracting, but no effects on public safety. Contracting agencies also gained new services including a K-9 Unit and full-time detectives. However, the monies municipalities saved were largely used to cut taxes and fund capital improvements, not to fund reform efforts called for after the murder of George Floyd. Contracting thus was a way to maintain the status quo.
NO Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 580-584
K1 Police shared services
K1 police funding
DO 10.1111/1745-9133.12624