Note
Authors affiliated with: Rand Corporation,
University of Pennsylvania.
Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit (IZA) also called Institute
for the Study of Labor.
"IZA DP No. 8800"--Cover.
"IZA Discussion Paper No. 8800".
Summary
Over a million people in the United States are employed in private security and law
enforcement, yet very little is known about the effects of private police on crime. The current
study examines the relationship between a privately-funded university police force and crime
in a large U.S. city. Following an expansion of the jurisdictional boundary of the private police
force, we see no short-term change in crime. However, using a geographic regression
discontinuity approach, we find large impacts of private police on public safety, with violent
crime in particular decreasing. These contradictory results appear to be a consequence of
delayed effect of private police on crime.