Article in Journal

The Closure of Police Stations Leads to an Increase in Theft Crime

Sebastian Blesse, André Diegmann
CESifo, Munich, 2023

EconPol Forum 24 (2), 46-49
PDF Download
  • Regional access to local police infrastructure matters for crime outcomes
  • Exploiting a police reform, we show that closing police stations increases car theft and residential burglary
  • Our findings are consistent with lower deterrence due to a lower visibility of the local police
  • Police closures lead local private security firms to exit the market, which exacerbates local crime
  • Fewer visible local police stations have severe and unintended consequences which need to be considered by bureaucrats and policy makers pushing for more efficiency in providing public safety

Included in