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Police safety, killings by the police, and the militarization of US law enforcement

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  • Masera, Federico

Abstract

The debate over police use of military equipment often revolves around the supposed tradeoff between increasing police safety and reducing killings by the police. In this paper, I rely on institutional features that exogenously determine the distribution of military equipment to US police departments to show that, contrary to previous evidence, there is no such tradeoff: police militarization increases killings by the police and reduces police safety. Each year police militarization results in 64 additional killings by the police, 12,440 police officer assaults, and 2653 police officer injuries.

Suggested Citation

  • Masera, Federico, 2021. "Police safety, killings by the police, and the militarization of US law enforcement," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:juecon:v:124:y:2021:i:c:s0094119021000474
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2021.103365
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Federico Masera, 2021. "Violent Crime and the Overmilitarization of US Policing," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 37(3), pages 479-511.
    2. Vincenzo Bove & Evelina Gavrilova, 2017. "Police Officer on the Frontline or a Soldier? The Effect of Police Militarization on Crime," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 1-18, August.
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    4. Matthew C. Harris & Jinseong Park & Donald J. Bruce & Matthew N. Murray, 2017. "Peacekeeping Force: Effects of Providing Tactical Equipment to Local Law Enforcement," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 9(3), pages 291-313, August.
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    6. Barber, C. & Azrael, D. & Cohen, A. & Miller, M. & Thymes, D. & Wang, D.E. & Hemenway, D., 2016. "Homicides by police: Comparing counts from the national violent death reporting system, vital statistics, and supplementary homicide reports," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(5), pages 922-927.
    7. D. Mark Anderson & Daniel I. Rees, 2015. "Deployments, Combat Exposure, and Crime," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 58(1), pages 235-267.
    8. Desmond Ang, 0. "The Effects of Police Violence on Inner-City Students," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 136(1), pages 115-168.
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    Cited by:

    1. Cunningham, Jamein & Feir, Donn. L. & Gillezeau, Rob, 2021. "Collective Bargaining Rights, Policing, and Civilian Deaths," IZA Discussion Papers 14208, IZA Network @ LISER.
    2. Abby Córdova & Lucía Tiscornia, 2025. "Law enforcement at the margin of the law: Information provision and support for militarization in Mexico," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 62(5), pages 1428-1446, September.
    3. Boylan, Richard T., 2022. "Should cities disband their police departments?," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    4. Federico Masera, 2022. "The economics of policing and crimeThe economics of policing and crime," Chapters, in: Paolo Buonanno & Paolo Vanin & Juan Vargas (ed.), A Modern Guide to the Economics of Crime, chapter 2, pages 12-29, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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