Is a Decentralized Police Organization a Better Option in a Modern Democratic Society? A Case Study From South Korea

While western countries have had a decentralized policing model for many years, some countries, such as South Korea, still employ a centralized, national police department. Responding to calls for reform, South Korea launched a pilot program and implemented a more decentralized policing structure in Jeju Island in 2006. This study adds to the policing literature by offering the empirical comparison of a region before and after decentralization of a police department. This study will examine the intervention effects of police decentralization in Jeju, specifically related to crime rates, crime clearance rates, victimization, trust in police, and fear of crime. Using propensity score matching and interrupted time series analysis, this study found that the decentralized policing intervention significantly reduced total crime, violent crime rates, and property crime rates that lasted throughout the intervention period, while improving crime clearance rates for violent crime, as well as reduced fear of crime among residents.

CCTV in deprived neighborhoods – a short time follow up of effects on crime and crime clearance

The latest meta-study on CCTV found that it was associated with reductions in property crime and narcotics crime, but mainly in parking lots and residential areas. Recent findings from Sweden however suggested that the association of CCTV with crime may be different in deprived neighborhoods in Sweden where criminal networks exert a large influence. In addition, much less research has been done on the impact of CCTV on crime clearance. The present study follows up on this by considering changes in crime, and crime clearance, associated with CCTV in three deprived neighborhoods in Gothenburg. The three neighborhoods had CCTV installed around their main squares/centers in 2018, and changes in recorded crime for seven crime types taking place in public – as well as the share of those crimes where a suspect has been identified is followed. The changes are compared with changes at similar locations in the other six deprived neighborhoods of Gothenburg. The results show that relative to controls, violence was significantly reduced at treatment areas. No significant change was noted for property crime. Crime clearance rates increased at treatment areas relative to controls for both property crimes and violent crimes, but no change was significant. This suggests a need for further study on contextual differences of different locations for CCTV, to ascertain whether the effect on violence in deprived neighborhoods can be replicated. It also raises questions on whether the CCTV is cost-effective, since it appears to have small effects on both crime and crime clearance.

The effect of public surveillance cameras on crime clearance rates

Much research has examined the crime reduction benefits of public close-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, suggesting that cameras may not deter enough crime to justify their cost. Another benefit of CCTV though is its utility in investigations and in clearing cases, which has been much less studied. Using a sample of public crimes and case clearances in Dallas, Texas, we examine the efficacy that public CCTV cameras increase case clearance rates using a pre-post research design. We find that cases closer to cameras did have an increased clearance rate after the cameras were installed in Dallas. But the effects faded quite quickly in space, and were mostly limited to thefts. While our estimates here suggest the cameras are likely not cost-effective in this sample in terms of increasing clearances, it suggests there is potential to be more targeted in camera placement that might provide better justification for their (limited) use.

Variability of Crime Clearance Among Police Agencies

Average crime clearance rates have remained remarkably stable in the United States since the 1980s, despite many advances in investigative technologies or fluctuations in crime. Taking these average trends at face value, some have suggested that this stability indicates that police departments can do little to alter their clearance rates. However, in this study, we find that the average trends mask substantial long-term variation in crime clearance among police agencies. Using group-based trajectory modeling, we test whether large U.S. police departments have reported uniquely different long-term clearance rate trends from 1981 to 2013 and what organizational factors might contribute to different trends. As we discuss, this method has attractive qualities that provide for a more rigorous analysis compared with past comparative work. Our results show diverse levels and patterns of clearance both within individual crime types and across multiple crime types that appear to covary with organizational factors. We explain how finite mixture modeling can advance both quantitative and qualitative research by identifying departmental differences in performance for further study.

Marijuana Legalization and Crime Clearance Rates: Testing Proponent Assertions in Colorado and Washington State

The legalization of recreational cannabis in Washington state (I-502) and Colorado (A-64) created a natural experiment with ancillary unknowns. Of these unknowns, one of the more heavily debated is that of the potential effects on public health and safety. Specific to public safety, advocates of legalization expected improvements in police effectiveness through the reduction in police time and attention to cannabis offenses, thus allowing them to reallocate resources to more serious offenses. Using 2010 to 2015 Uniform Crime Reports data, the research undertakes interrupted time-series analysis on the offenses known to be cleared by arrest to create monthly counts of violent and property crime clearance rate as well as disaggregated counts by crime type. Findings suggest no negative effects of legalization on crime clearance rates. Moreover, evidence suggests some crime clearance rates have improved. Our findings suggest legalization has resulted in improvements in some clearance rates.