Police performance and case attrition / Joan Petersilia, Allan Abrahamse, James Q. Wilson ; supported by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice.

Author
Petersilia, Joan [Browse]
Format
Book
Language
English
Published/​Created
Santa Monica, CA : RAND Corporation, 1987.
Description
1 online resource (ix, 56 pages) : illustrations

Details

Subject(s)
Series
R (Rand Corporation) [More in this series]
Summary note
In the United States, less than half of all felony arrests result in convictions. This failure of arrests to come to trial is called case attrition, and most attrition occurs between arrest and filing. This study examines the differences in felony case attrition among 25 large police agencies in Los Angeles County; determines how much of the variance can be explained by differences in police practices, after crime and community characteristics are controlled for; and identifies those policies and practices that were related to higher conviction rates. The results were mixed and largely negative. The authors found that prevailing assumptions about attrition rates should be reexamined, and that statistics reflecting case-attrition patterns are not a valid basis for comparative evaluation of police departments.
Notes
  • "R-3515-NIJ"
  • "Supported by the National Institute of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice."
  • "October 1987."
Other format(s)
Available in PDF form online.
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