IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jcjust/v99y2025ics0047235225001217.html

Leveraging code enforcement units to reduce crime: A difference-in-difference analysis of a targeted crime prevention intervention

Author

Listed:
  • Boehme, Hunter M.
  • Tregle, Brandon
  • Olson, Marc
  • Fulmer, Cannon

Abstract

Police agencies are considering innovative, cost-effective strategies to reduce crime, particularly during a police staffing crisis. One potential strategy involves leveraging code enforcement units to abate vacant lots, buildings, and overgrown landscapes. This approach also offers a light-footprint mechanism to reduce crime with minimal contact between police and the public. The present study utilizes a rigorous quasi-experimental design of a targeted code enforcement crime prevention strategy implemented within a large Southeastern United States police agency. Findings from two-way fixed effects difference-in-difference analyses revealed a non-significant impact on shootings and violent crimes. However, there were significant reductions in total property crimes. This study provides promising evidence of a cost-effective low-contact property crime reduction strategy for police agencies. We discuss policy implications and future research directions.

Suggested Citation

  • Boehme, Hunter M. & Tregle, Brandon & Olson, Marc & Fulmer, Cannon, 2025. "Leveraging code enforcement units to reduce crime: A difference-in-difference analysis of a targeted crime prevention intervention," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:99:y:2025:i:c:s0047235225001217
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102472
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047235225001217
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2025.102472?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anthony A. Braga & Brandon Turchan & Andrew V. Papachristos & David M. Hureau, 2019. "Hot spots policing of small geographic areas effects on crime," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(3), September.
    2. Joshua D. Angrist & Jörn-Steffen Pischke, 2009. "Mostly Harmless Econometrics: An Empiricist's Companion," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 8769, December.
    3. Joshua C. Hinkle & David Weisburd & Cody W. Telep & Kevin Petersen, 2020. "Problem‐oriented policing for reducing crime and disorder: An updated systematic review and meta‐analysis," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(2), June.
    4. Adams, Ian T. & Mourtgos, Scott M. & Nix, Justin, 2023. "Turnover in large US policing agencies following the George Floyd protests," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    5. Daniel S. Nagin, 2013. "Deterrence: A Review of the Evidence by a Criminologist for Economists," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 5(1), pages 83-105, May.
    6. Mitre-Becerril, David & MacDonald, John M., 2024. "Does urban development influence crime? Evidence from Philadelphia’s new zoning regulations," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    7. Jonathan Roth, 2022. "Pretest with Caution: Event-Study Estimates after Testing for Parallel Trends," American Economic Review: Insights, American Economic Association, vol. 4(3), pages 305-322, September.
    8. Ashesh Rambachan & Jonathan Roth, 2023. "A More Credible Approach to Parallel Trends," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(5), pages 2555-2591.
    9. King, Gary & Nielsen, Richard, 2019. "Why Propensity Scores Should Not Be Used for Matching," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(4), pages 435-454, October.
    10. Jesse Cui & Shane T Jensen & John MacDonald, 2022. "The effects of vacant lot greening and the impact of land use and business presence on crime," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 49(3), pages 1147-1158, February.
    11. Spencer, M. Dylan & Schnell, Cory, 2022. "Reinvestigating the relationship between cities and the spatial distribution of robbery: A tale of eight cities," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. Smith, Michael R. & Tillyer, Rob & Tregle, Brandon, 2024. "Hot spots policing as part of a city-wide violent crime reduction strategy: Initial evidence from Dallas," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    13. repec:plo:pone00:0129582 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Arne Henningsen & Guy Low & David Wuepper & Tobias Dalhaus & Hugo Storm & Dagim Belay & Stefan Hirsch, 2024. "Estimating Causal Effects with Observational Data: Guidelines for Agricultural and Applied Economists," IFRO Working Paper 2024/03, University of Copenhagen, Department of Food and Resource Economics.
    2. Rottner, Elisa, 2023. "Do climate policies lead to outsourcing? Evidence from firm-level imports," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-070, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    3. Justin C. Contat & William M. Doerner & Robert N. Renner & Malcolm J. Rogers, 2025. "Measuring Price Effects from Disasters Using Public Data: A Case Study of Hurricane Ian," Journal of Real Estate Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(2), pages 170-217, April.
    4. Ryan Allen & Aticus Peterson, 2026. "Intelligence Without Integrity: Why Capable LLMs May Undermine Reliability," Papers 2602.20440, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2026.
    5. Fu, Hongqiao & Cheng, Terence C. & Zhan, Jiajia & Xu, Duo & Yip, Winnie, 2024. "Dynamic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the demand for telemedicine services: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 531-557.
    6. Young Ahn & Hiroyuki Kasahara, 2026. "Event-Study Designs for Discrete Outcomes under Transition Independence," Papers 2603.07914, arXiv.org.
    7. Tanner Jones & Ryan Quandt, 2025. "An iridescent sunset: An empirical analysis of sunset legislation," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 68(2), pages 85-123, October.
    8. Boungou, Whelsy & Dufau, Bastien, 2025. "Shareholder wealth effects of corporate sustainability reporting regulations," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    9. Alloush, Mo & Bloem, Jeffrey R., 2022. "Neighborhood violence, poverty, and psychological well-being," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    10. Tang, Lianzhou & Xu, Wenli, 2025. "Patronage and pollution," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    11. Omry Yoresh & Weijian Zou, 2026. "The lifecycle of judicial bias," IFS Working Papers W26/12, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    12. Prem, Mounu & Purroy, Miguel E. & Vargas, Juan F., 2025. "Landmines: The local effects of demining," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 247(C).
    13. Mark Kattenberg & Bas Scheer & Jurre Thiel, 2023. "Causal forests with fixed effects for treatment effect heterogeneity in difference-in-differences," CPB Discussion Paper 452, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    14. Srivastava, Aaraadhya, 2025. "Creditor rights and innovation: evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(3).
    15. Anna Laura Baraldi & Claudia Cantabene & Alessandro De Iudicibus & Giovanni Fosco & Erasmo Papagni, 2025. "Shocks and Selection: How Earthquakes Shape Local Political Representation," EERI Research Paper Series EERI RP 2025/06, Economics and Econometrics Research Institute (EERI), Brussels.
    16. Lin, Pengsheng & Pan, Yinghao & Wang, Yuan & Hu, Longhai, 2024. "Reshaping unfairness perceptions: Evidence from China's Hukou reform," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    17. Wildmer Daniel Gregori & Maria Martinez Cillero & Michela Nardo, 2022. "The effects of cross-border acquisitions on firms’ productivity in the EU," Working Papers 2022.10, International Network for Economic Research - INFER.
    18. Christian Alemán-Pericón & Alexander Ludwig & Christopher Busch & Raül Santaeulàlia-Llopis, 2022. "A Stage-Based Identification of Policy Effects," Working Papers 1369, Barcelona School of Economics.
    19. Jiang, Hui & Peng, Cheng & Ren, Daling, 2024. "Supply-chain finance digitalization and corporate financial fraud: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    20. Kim, Dongin & Steinbach, Sandro & Zurita, Carlos, 2024. "Deep trade agreements and agri-food global value chain integration," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:99:y:2025:i:c:s0047235225001217. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcrimjus .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.