Template-Type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Title: Why Crime Matters, and What to Do About It
Author-Name: Jennifer Doleac
Abstract: After decades of declining crime rates, the US experienced a spike in
  violent crime in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the most
  recently available data indicates that criminal activity has resumed its
  descent, crime continues to be a first-order problem for a large number
  of communities, and the costs of policing, prosecuting, and
  incarceration are borne by the affected and unaffected alike. The
  economic costs of crime in the US reach $5–6 trillion annually by some
  estimates. This paper reviews research and offers policy recommendations
  to reduce crime through prevention, deterrence, and rehabilitation.
  First, investing in young children’s health and education is extremely
  effective at reducing crime in the future. Second, policies that raise
  the probability that perpetrators are caught and face consequences are
  more effective at deterring crime than making the punishment longer or
  harsher. Finally, well intentioned policies with the goal of hiding
  information about past criminal activity, such as Ban the Box, can have
  unintended negative consequences. Policymakers therefore should look to
  long-term investments in children, such as reducing lead exposure and
  expanding teenage summer jobs programs, along with efforts to detect and
  apprehend perpetrators today, through technology and increased policing,
  as evidence-based and cost-effective strategies to lower the economic
  costs of crime and make communities safer.
Creation-Date: 2024-12-01
Keywords: crime, public policy
File-URL: https://www.economicstrategygroup.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Why-Crime-Matters-and-What-to-Do-About-It.pdf
File-Format: Application/PDF
Handle: RePEc:cxx:wpaper:why-crime-matters-and-what-to-do-about-it