Citation

Engel RS, Corsaro N, Ozer MM. Criminol. Public Policy 2017; 16(2): 375-402.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, American Society of Criminology, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1745-9133.12299

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Despite significant national reductions in crime during the past three decades, a comparable reduction in adult arrest rates has not occurred. In addition, scant attention has been paid to the role of the police in pretrial justice and other criminal justice reform efforts, despite their role as gatekeepers to the criminal justice system. A key inquiry that must be addressed by both academics and practitioners is whether it is possible to reduce crime and the number of arrests simultaneously. Cincinnati (Hamilton County), Ohio, provided a unique opportunity to examine this unanswered question when it closed the Queensgate Correctional Facility in 2008, thereby reducing the available jail space in the county by 36%. By relying on an interrupted time-series analysis, our findings show that contrary to public concern, both crime and arrests were reduced in Cincinnati even after the jail closure. Specifically, the Cincinnati Police Department reported a statistically significant decrease in felony arrests, and a nonsignificant decline in misdemeanor arrests, while maintaining a continued (nonsignificant) decline in violence and property crimes. Importantly, our findings demonstrate that the previous existent downward trend in Cincinnati reported crimes was not interrupted with the loss of more than one third of the available jail space in Hamilton County.


Policy Implications

Policy makers and practitioners are concerned with balancing the individual rights of the accused with public safety; reducing incarceration; and promoting a more efficient, effective, and fair criminal justice system. The Cincinnati Police Department addressed these fundamental concerns by changing how officers viewed the use of arrest: as a limited commodity rather than as a standard response. By using strategies such as problem-oriented policing, place-based policing, and focused deterrence, Cincinnati Police were able to narrow their focus on the repeat places, problems, and groups of individuals that were driving crime within the city. The evidence suggests that the police can have a significant impact on pretrial justice and other criminal justice reform efforts through the implementation of evidence-based policing strategies that seek to reduce crime and reduce the use of arrest simultaneously.

Language: en