COST-BENEFIT ANALYSIS FOR CRIME PREVENTION: Opportunity Costs, Routine Savings and Crime Externalities1 (original) (raw)

The Comparative Costs and Benefits of Programs To Reduce Crime. Version 4.0

2001

This report describes the economics of programs working to reduce crime in Washington State. For a variety of approaches, from prevention programs designed for young children to correctional interventions for juvenile and adult offenders, it systematically analyzes North American research studies from the past 25 years. For this review, the research literature is divided into four broad topic areas: early childhood programs, middle childhood and adolescent (non-juvenile offender) programs, and adult offender programs. It determines whether program benefits, as measured by the value to taxpayers and crime victims from a program's expected effect on crime, are likely to outweigh costs. This procedure allows direct comparisons of the economics of different types of programs designed for widely varying age groups. Overall, research on what works and what does not has been developed, and, after considering the comparative economics of these options, this information can help improve public resource allocation. These estimates can aid decision makers in directing scarce public resources toward economically successful programs and away from unsuccessful ones, thereby producing net overall gains to taxpayers. This report highlights the Washington State Institute for Public Policy's cost-benefit findings as of May 2001, concluding that: some good and some bad investment options exist, programs that can achieve even relatively small reductions in crime can be cost-beneficial, programs should be evaluated, and a portfolio approach is recommended. (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.

Evaluation of Crime Prevention: Escaping the Tunnel Vision on Effectiveness

The Howard Journal of Criminal Justice, 2015

Within the field of crime prevention we have for decades already been provided with numerous research projects that study the effectiveness of crime prevention measures. Effectiveness is, without a doubt, a crucial element when evaluating these measures. Unfortunately, other important aspects of crime prevention evaluation are often overlooked, or are hardly ever subjected to criminological scientific research. In this contribution we highlight key components that are needed to develop a fully-fledged cost-benefit analysis, which is a vital tool for decision makers to avoid choosing prevention measures where benefits are cancelled out by unexpected, or unknown, side effects.

Cost benefit analysis for crime science: making cost-benefit analysis useful through a portfolio of outcomes

2005

Cost-benefit analysis is used increasingly in crime reduction and criminal justice evaluations yet remains a frustrating exercise that is easy to criticise and dismiss. Should the intangible costs of crime be included? Should local or national cost estimates be used? Are 'saved'police and criminal justice costs a benefit of prevented crime? Should anticipatory and diffused benefits plus displacement costs be included? Which benefit-cost ratios should be presented for which of a range of diverse audiences? How long does crime prevention ...

The cost of crime to society: New crime-specific estimates for policy and program evaluation

Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 2010

Estimating the cost to society of individual crimes is essential to the economic evaluation of many social programs, such as substance abuse treatment and community policing. A review of the crimecosting literature reveals multiple sources, including published articles and government reports, which collectively represent the alternative approaches for estimating the economic losses associated with criminal activity. Many of these sources are based upon data that are more than ten years old, indicating a need for updated figures. This study presents a comprehensive methodology for calculating the cost of society of various criminal acts. Tangible and intangible losses are estimated using the most current data available. The selected approach, which incorporates both the cost-ofillness and the jury compensation methods, yields cost estimates for more than a dozen major crime categories, including several categories not found in previous studies. Updated crime cost estimates can help government agencies and other organizations execute more prudent policy evaluations, particularly benefit-cost analyses of substance abuse treatment or other interventions that reduce crime.

Economics of Crime

Foundations and TrendsĀ® in Microeconomics, 2006

This paper starts with a review the economics of criminal behavior. Then, the authors discuss the theory of public enforcement. The economic analysis of criminal behavior and criminal law has been a hugely successful enterprise. As an academic enterprise, it has achieved the goal of research-it has generated a large and growing literature. More important than academic success, however, has been the influence of this branch of learning on actual practice. The understanding of deterrence effects and rational responses by criminals has substantially changed the purpose and functioning of the criminal justice system.