Peacekeeping Force: Effects of Providing Tactical Equipment to Local Law Enforcement
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 9,
no. 3, August 2017
(pp. 291-313)
(Complimentary)
Abstract
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.Citation
Harris, Matthew C., Jinseong Park, Donald J. Bruce, and Matthew N. Murray. 2017. "Peacekeeping Force: Effects of Providing Tactical Equipment to Local Law Enforcement." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 9 (3): 291-313. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20150525Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H76 State and Local Government: Other Expenditure Categories
- K42 Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
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