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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 11:59 am
Time: 11:59 am
Results for criminals
3 results foundAuthor: Bodenhorn, Howard Title: Short Criminals: Stature and Crime in Early America Summary: This paper considers the extent to which crime in early America was conditioned on height. With data on inmates incarcerated in Pennsylvania state penitentiaries between 1826 and 1876, we estimate the parameters of Wiebull proportional hazard specifications of the individual crime hazard. Our results reveal that, consistent with a theory in which height can be a source of labor market disadvantage, criminals in early America were shorter than the average American, and individual crime hazards decreased in height. Details: Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2010. Source: Internet Resource; NBER Working Paper 15945 (Accessed April, 2010 at http://www.nber.org/papers/w15945) 34p. Year: 2010 Country: United States URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w15945) 34p. Shelf Number: 118565 Keywords: CrimeCriminalityCriminalsHistorical Studies |
Author: Mungan, Murat C. Title: Identifying Criminals' Risk Preferences Summary: There is a 250 year old presumption in the criminology and law enforcement literature that people are deterred more by increases in the certainty rather than increases in the severity of legal sanctions. We call this presumption the Certainty Aversion Presumption (CAP). Simple criminal decision making models suggest that criminals must be risk-seeking if they behave consistently with CAP. This implication leads to disturbing interpretations, such as criminals being categorically different than law abiding people, who often display risk-averse behavior while making financial decisions. Moreover, policy discussions that incorrectly rely on criminals' risk attitudes implied by CAP are ill-informed, and may therefore have unintended negative consequences. In this article, we first demonstrate, contrary to most of the existing literature, that CAP consistent behavior does not imply risk-seeking behavior. A host of considerations that are unrelated to risk-attitudes can generate behavior that is consistent with CAP, including stigmatization; discounting; judgment proofness; the forfeitability of illegal gains; and the possibility of being punished for unsuccessful criminal attempts. Next, we discuss empirical methods that can be employed to gain a better understanding of criminals' risk-attitudes and responsiveness to various punishment schemes. These methods focus on the various non-risk-related-considerations that may be responsible for CAP consistent behavior. Finally, we discuss the importance of gaining a better understanding of criminals' attitudes for purposes of designing optimal law enforcement methods, punishment schemes for repeat offenders, plea bargaining procedures and standards of proof. Details: Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Law School, Institute for Law and Economics, 2015. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Paper No. 15-5: Accessed March 9, 2015 at: http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2535&context=faculty_scholarship Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: http://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2535&context=faculty_scholarship Shelf Number: 134758 Keywords: Criminal BehaviorCriminalsDecision MakingRisk-Taking Behavior |
Author: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General, Evaluation and Inspections Division Title: Review of the United States Marshals Service's Apprehension of Violent Fugitives Summary: The Presidential Threat Protection Act of 2000 directed the creation of fugitive apprehension task forces and encouraged the Department of Justice (Department) to focus on apprehending violent federal and state fugitives. In fiscal year (FY) 2001, the Department changed its strategic plan and shifted the focus of its fugitive apprehension efforts from all federal fugitives to violent federal and violent state fugitives. The United States Marshals Service (USMS), the federal government's primary agency for apprehending fugitives, is principally responsible for carrying out the Department's strategy. To apprehend fugitives of all types, Deputy Marshals in the 94 federal judicial districts (district) work individually or as members of warrant squads, district fugitive task forces, or Regional Fugitive Task Forces (RTF). The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated this review to evaluate the performance of the USMS in apprehending violent fugitives. To evaluate the USMS's performance, we analyzed trends in fugitive apprehensions using data from the USMS's Warrant Information Network (WIN) from FY 2001 to 2004. We also compared the number of violent fugitives apprehended to the amount of time (measured in staff years) that USMS personnel spent on fugitive investigations. In addition, to examine the effectiveness of the RTFs, we compared the number of violent fugitive apprehensions in the 15 districts included in the 5 existing RTFs to the number of violent apprehensions in the other 79 districts. We also surveyed all of the USMS district offices about their violent fugitive apprehension efforts. The performance of the USMS in apprehending violent fugitives improved from FY 2001 to FY 2004. During that period, the USMS increased the number of violent fugitives it apprehended by 51 percent. We also found that the USMS became more efficient in apprehending violent fugitives. The number of violent fugitives apprehended per staff year increased from 18 violent fugitives in FY 2002 to 21 violent fugitives in FY 2004. We concluded that the USMS's performance improved primarily because the USMS increased the staff time dedicated to violent fugitive investigations by 21 percent and because the five RTFs created by the USMS were more efficient and effective at apprehending fugitives. Despite its improved performance, the USMS was unable to reduce the number of violent federal fugitives at large. From FY 2001 through FY 2004, the number of violent federal fugitives who remained at large increased by 3 percent to 14,419 fugitives. The Deputy Marshals we interviewed said that the number of violent federal fugitives sought by the USMS increased because the increased number of federal task forces throughout the country generated more federal fugitives. We found that the USMS also investigated more federal fugitives referred from other federal agencies, and that state and local law enforcement agencies requested more assistance from the USMS in apprehending fugitives. Although the increase in the number of violent federal fugitives is not fully within the USMS's control, we identified three factors within the USMS's control that, if addressed, would improve its effectiveness at apprehending violent federal fugitives. The factors are that (1) not all districts assigned violent federal fugitive investigations to the RTFs and other task forces; (2) the USMS did not fully change its focus from apprehending all federal fugitives to apprehending violent federal and state fugitives; and (3) most USMS districts did not enter data regarding their state fugitives in WIN when the investigations were opened so that the USMS could more effectively focus its resources on apprehending violent fugitives. Details: Washington, DC: Office of the Inspector General, 2005. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 8, 2018 at: https://oig.justice.gov/reports/USMS/e0508/final.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United States URL: https://oig.justice.gov/reports/USMS/e0508/final.pdf Shelf Number: 150509 Keywords: Arrests and ApprehensionsCriminal InvestigationCriminalsFugitives from JusticeMarshalsUnited States Marshals Service |