Private Security and Controlling Crime (From Privatizing the United States Justice System: Police, Adjudication, and Corrections Services From the Private Sector, P 42-55, 1992, Gary W Bowman, Simon Hakim, et al., eds. - See NCJ-137785)

• NCJ Number: 137787
• Author(s): E W Zedlewski
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: McFarland & Company, Inc.
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

The factors that influence the demand for private security services and the relative effects of private security and police on public safety were studied using official 1977 data from 124 Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas.

Abstract

The data were measures of crime, safety resources, and other socioeconomic characteristics. Reported crimes and information from the National Crime Survey were used as two independent measures of victimization risk. The analysis used a model that specified the relationships between crime, the demand for safety, and the provision of safety. Simultaneous equation estimation techniques and the two- stage least-squares method were used to analyze the data. Results revealed that people's investments in police and private security increase as the amount of property they have increases. However, homeowners, who often bear a disproportionate share of municipal costs through property taxes, are less supportive of increased police employment. In addition, arrest rates are not affected significantly by changes in police personnel levels, although private security measures were associated with lower victimization in a household. This finding was consistent with a hypothesis that visible security protects its owner by displacing crime to neighbors with either less security or less visible security. However, the two crime data sources differed regarding the relative effectiveness of police and private security in reducing total crime. Figures, tables, notes, list of data sources, and 15 references