NCJ Number
198451
Journal
Criminology & Public Policy Volume: 2 Issue: 1 Dated: November 2002 Pages: 7-32
Date Published
November 2002
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This article reports on the effects of monetary grant awards on local crime rates between the years 1995 and 1999.
Abstract
The authors explain that the level of funding provided by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) between the years 1993 and 1998 was unprecedented. As such, it is imperative to examine the impact these COPS dollars have had on local crime rates across the country. Although accurately assessing the impact of grant awards on crime rates has been a challenge in the past, the authors have designed a study that controls for confounding factors. Through the use of a multi-wave panel data set with 6,100 cities serving more than 145 million people, the authors examined the extent to which the drop in local crime rates during 1995 to 1999 could be attributed to the influx of COPS grant awards. The authors controlled for baseline levels of crime, socioeconomic characteristics, city size, and population mobility and density. The results of multivariate analysis revealed that for cities with populations larger than 10,000, every dollar of grant money was equated with a decline of 5.26 violent crimes and 21.63 property crimes per 100,000 residents. On the other hand, in cities with fewer than 10,000 people, the COPS grants had no significant impact on local crime rates. Tables, references