Do Elections Improve Police Performance? Evidence from Sheriff Term Limits

• In Event: Advances in Law Enforcement Policy Research

Abstract

Do elections encourage local officeholders to work harder? We study this question using the case of elected sheriffs whose terms are limited in four states. These sheriffs have control over important government services in their territories including the prevention and solving of crime and the maintenance of local jails. Using a difference-in-differences design, we compare the sheriffs who have reached a term limit to those who have served the same number of terms but are eligible to run again. Despite being free from potential sanction by voters, we find that term-limited sheriffs produce policing outcomes similar to the outcomes their reelection-eligible peers produce.

Authors

• Cameron DeHart, Stanford University

• Daniel Thompson, UCLA