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Community Engagement and Public Safety: Evidence From Crime Enforcement Targeting Immigrants

Author

Listed:
  • Felipe Goncalves
  • Elisa Jacome
  • Emily Weisburst

Abstract

We study the role of victim reporting in the production of public safety. We examine the Secure Communities program, a crime-reduction policy that involved police in detecting unauthorized immigrants and increased deportation fears in immigrant communities. We find that the policy reduced the likelihood that Hispanic victims report crimes to police and increased offending against Hispanics. The number of reported crimes is unchanged, masking these opposing effects. We show that reduced reporting drives the offending increase and provide the first elasticity of offending to victim reporting in the literature, calculating that a 10% decline in reporting increases offending by 7.9%.

Suggested Citation

  • Felipe Goncalves & Elisa Jacome & Emily Weisburst, 2026. "Community Engagement and Public Safety: Evidence From Crime Enforcement Targeting Immigrants," Working Papers 26-23, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:26-23
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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2026/adrm/ces/CES-WP-26-23.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2026
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination
    • K37 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Immigration Law
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law

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