NCJ Number
176928
Journal
Policing Volume: 22 Issue: 1 Dated: 1999 Pages: 58-73
Date Published
1999
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This article develops a method for assessing costs and benefits of police pursuit using police pursuit data from Minnesota and cost-benefit data from the insurance industry and research studies conducted to estimate crime costs.
Abstract
Pursuit tradeoff ratios were created for each of five types of police pursuits. Logistic regression was used to analyze several factors thought to affect police pursuit outcomes. Findings revealed that police pursuits were expensive; about $35,000 in damages resulted each time a police pursuit occurred in Minnesota and more than $185 million worth of accidents, injuries, and deaths resulted over the study period. Benefits, however, resulted from police pursuits, and the total value of benefits in Minnesota over the study period totaled more than $11 billion. The odds that a police pursuit would produce a negative outcome were fairly high, nearly 30 percent, and the nature of the incident precipitating a police pursuit affected outcome. The authors conclude benefits of police pursuits far outweigh their costs across all types of chases, although some types of chases are less beneficial than others. 25 references, 4 notes, and 15 tables