Calculating the Crime Control Benefits of Police Officers: A Canadian Perspective

• In Event: Poster Session

Abstract

A growing number of scholars have used cost-benefit analyses to calculate the crime reduction benefits of increased police spending. The RAND cost of crime calculator is one approach that estimates the crime control benefits of adding officers using information derived from U.S. studies. The calculator considers three factors; (a) levels of police-reported crimes, (b) the costs of these offences to society, and (c) the effectiveness of the police in reducing crime. Our research replicated the calculator using Canadian data. We also extended the RAND approach by using an indicator of the impact of traffic enforcement on cost-savings to society. We find that the value of adding officers increases in jurisdictions with the highest levels of serious crime and traffic crashes. Implications for studies of the economic costs and benefits of policing are highlighted.

Authors

• Rick Ruddell, University of Regina

• Nicholas A. Jones, University of Regina