Peacekeeping Force: Effects of Providing Tactical Equipment to Local Law Enforcement

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Harris, Matthew C.; Park, Jinseong; Bruce, Donald J.; Murray, Matthew N.
• 署名单位: University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville; University of Tennessee System; University of Tennessee Knoxville
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.20150525
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 291-313
• 关键词: reduce crime; police; deterrence; rates

摘要

We provide the first local level empirical analysis of the causal effects of providing military equipment to local police. Employing a novel combination of publicly available county-year panel data matched to hand-collected data on citizen complaints, we investigate the effects of acquiring tactical weapons, optics, and vehicles on citizen complaints, assaults on police officers, and offender deaths. For causal identification, we exploit exogenous variation in equipment availability and cost-shifting institutional aspects of the 1033 Program. Our results indicate that these items have generally positive effects: reduced citizen complaints, reduced assaults on officers, increased drug crime arrests, and no increases in offender deaths.