Improving Hot Spot Policing through Behavioral Interventions, New York City, 2012-2018 (ICPSR 37284)

Version Date: Jun 29, 2020

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Principal Investigator(s):
Anuj Shah, University of Chicago. Graduate School of Business

https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37284.v1

Version V1

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Summary

This project aimed to develop new insights into offender decision-making in hot spots in New York City, and to test whether these insights could inform interventions to reduce crime in hot spots. There were two phases to the project. In the first phase a set of hypotheses were developed about offender decision-making based on semi-structured interviews with individuals who were currently incarcerated, formerly incarcerated individuals, individuals currently on probation, and community members of high crime areas with no justice-involvement. These interviews suggested several factors worthy of further testing. For instance, offenders believed they were less likely to get away with a crime if they knew more about the officers in their community. That is, when police officers were less anonymous, offenders were less likely to go forward with a crime.

In the second phase a field intervention was developed and conducted to test whether reducing officer anonymity might deter crime. Through a randomized controlled trial (RCT) while working with NYPD neighborhood coordination officers, who work in New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) developments, it was tested whether sending information about officers to residents in housing developments would deter crime in those developments.

Citation

Shah, Anuj. Improving Hot Spot Policing through Behavioral Interventions, New York City, 2012-2018. Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-06-29. https://doi.org/10.3886/ICPSR37284.v1

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Funding

United States Department of Justice. Office of Justice Programs. National Institute of Justice (2013-R2-CX-0006)

Subject Terms

Geographic Coverage

Restrictions

Access to these data is restricted. Users interested in obtaining these data must complete a Restricted Data Use Agreement, specify the reason for the request, and obtain IRB approval or notice of exemption for their research.

Distributor(s)

Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research
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Time Period(s)

2012-11-01 -- 2018-10-31

Date of Collection

2018-03-01 -- 2018-04-30, 2012-11-01 -- 2018-10-31, 2014-06-27 -- 2014-10-01

Data Collection Notes

  1. This deposit included qualitative data files (interviews) that will be released separately.

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Study Purpose

To develop a better understanding of offender decision making through interviews, surveys, and a behavioral intervention to increase familiarity with local law enforcement.

Study Design

Randomized field trials and surveys following a behavioral intervention.

Universe

Adult public housing residents, adult ex-offenders, adult probationers, and adult incarcerated population in New York City.

Unit(s) of Observation

Individuals 18 or older

Data Source

Public complaint, arrest, 311 call, broken property, census, and NYCHA development data available from https://data.cityofnewyork.us

New York City residents

Data Type(s)

Mode of Data Collection

Description of Variables

Dataset 1 contains variables on NYCHA developments in New York City, including demographics, location, population, and crime incidents near the developments. Dataset 2 contains scale variables concerning feelings towards neigborhood police officers, job performance, response rate, and familiarity with those officers. It also includes items on demographics, residence, development statistics, and survey-related variables for researchers.

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Original Release Date

2020-06-29

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Notes

  • The public-use data files in this collection are available for access by the general public. Access does not require affiliation with an ICPSR member institution.

  • One or more files in this data collection have special restrictions. Restricted data files are not available for direct download from the website; click on the Restricted Data button to learn more.