Author: Berk, Richard
Title: Policing the Homeless: An Evaluation of Efforts to Reduce Homeless-Related Crime
Summary: Police officials across the United Sates are increasingly relying on place-based approaches for crime prevention. This article examines the Safer Cities Initiative, a widely publicized place-based policing intervention implemented in Los Angeles's Skid Row and focused on crime and disorder associated with homeless encampments. Crime reduction was the goal. The police division in which the program was undertaken provides 8 years of times series data serving as the observations for the treatment condition. Four adjacent police divisions in which the program was not undertaken provide 8 years time series data serving as the observations for the comparison condition. The data are analyzed using a generalized additive model. On balance, the study found that this place-based intervention is associated with meaningful reductions in violent, property, and nuisance street crimes. There is no evidence of crime displacement.
Details: Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, Department of Statistics & Department of Criminology, 2009. 32p.
Source: Working Paper
Year: 2009
Country: United States
URL:
Shelf Number: 118399
Keywords:
Crime PreventionDisplacementHomeless EncampmentsHomelessnessPlace-Based PolicingStreet Crimes |
