Citation

Macdonald JM. Crime Delinq. 2002; 48(4): 592-618.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/001112802237131

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In recent years, sharp declines in violent crime rates have been recorded across majorAmerican cities. During this time period, many police departments have shifted from atraditional reactive form of policing to a community-oriented approach. It is unclearwhether these changes have any causal relationship with the control or reduction in violentcrime. To examine this issue, this study used the Law Enforcement Management andAdministrative Statistics survey, the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports, and city-level censusdata to examine the economic and political determinants of robbery and homicide ratesin 164 American cities. Findings indicate that community policing had little effect on thecontrol or the decline in violent crime. Proactive policing strategies related to arrest hadan inverse effect on violent crime measures and were related to reductions in violentcrime over time. Implications of these findings for criminal justice policy are discussed.