The Social Costs of Policing
By Aaron Stagoff-Belfort, Daniel Bodah, and Daniela Gilbert
As policymakers and the public consider how best to address crime nationwide, deeper insights on policing should guide decisions about its funding and role in the provision of public safety. An assumption that policing is cost-effective may guide decisions to provide law enforcement with additional resources, yet a range of policing activities can result in “social costs of policing”: people suffering physical and behavioral health problems; losing educational opportunities, jobs, housing, and transportation; and withdrawing from civic engagement. These effects stem not only from violent interactions with police, but also from indirect exposure to routine policing activities; for instance, living in a neighborhood where police stop many people on the street. Even being arrested but not convicted and not having any continuing criminal legal system involvement can cause significant harm. This evidence brief seeks to fill a critical gap in understanding the benefits and costs of relying on policing as a primary approach to safety. When we measure what effect policing has on public safety, we must include the social costs of policing that make communities less healthy and prosperous, and consider whether the crime reduction benefits that policing can provide may be achieved through less costly means. The American Public Health Association has declared police violence—which often stems from encounters over minor infractions—a public health issue. Beyond acts of police brutality, routine law enforcement actions such as arrests and street stops can also destabilize communities.
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Such activities are common: in the United States, more than nine million arrests are made annually—one every three seconds—though 80 percent of those are for low-level offenses, and only five percent are for serious violent crimes. Responding to social problems through policing is a policy choice, and arrests.
New York: Vera Institute of Justice, 2022. 33p.