Does level of geography influence proactive policing's impact on crime? A synthesis of systematic reviews of three evidence-based policing strategies

Abstract

Recent systematic reviews on proactive policing interventions illustrate the potential effectiveness of these strategies for reducing crime and disorder. However, many proactive strategies are often confounded with the impacts of focused place-based interventions – or hot spots policing – which have also been associated with significant crime reductions. In this article, we combine data from recent systematic reviews on problem-oriented policing, police stops, and preventive police patrol to investigate whether the deterrent effects of these interventions are moderated by the level of geography targeted. Using meta-regression models to assess the impact of geography while controlling for the impact of policing strategy and other relevant study characteristics, we find that level of geography is the most important predictor of crime prevention outcomes. Specifically, focused micro-geographic interventions are associated with the largest relative crime reductions, regardless of the policing strategy employed. Our estimates also suggest, however, that problem-oriented policing strategies produce larger general crime reduction effects than police patrol and police stop interventions across all levels of geography. We conclude that geography should play a major role in evidence-based crime prevention efforts, but that police agencies should also carefully consider the strategies that they employ and their impacts on both crime and the community.