NCJ Number
138266
Journal
Policing and Society Volume: 2 Issue: 3 Dated: (1992) Pages: 193-204
Date Published
1992
Length
12 pages
Annotation
The impact of urban transition on public fiscal commitment to policing is examined using a multivariate analysis of quantitative data from all United States cities with a population exceeding 25,000 in the 1970 and 1980 censuses.
Abstract
The results showed that sociodemographic change and decline in United States cities contributed to municipal police funding even after the findings were statistically controlled for crime rate, financial, and demographic characteristics. The second major finding is that the magnitude of a city's youth gang problem as perceived by knowledgeable sources was influenced by the level of public investment in policing; cities with youth gang problems spend more per capita on policing. These results have implications for the role of police in responding to perceived societal threats, the capacity of postindustrial societies to respond to urban dislocations, and the effectiveness of the municipal response to youth gang problems. The author suggests that successful strategies of urban renewal may be constructed on an integrated set of social control, economic growth, and opportunity enhancement programs. 40 references