Exploitative Revenues, Law Enforcement, and the Quality of Government Service

These flashcards summarize key concepts related to the interplay between law enforcement revenue practices and their impact on public safety.

Revenue Collection Activities

Actions taken by police departments to impose and collect fees, fines, and asset forfeitures, aimed at generating income for municipalities.

Crime Clearance Rate

The rate at which law enforcement identifies or charges individuals as perpetrators of crimes.

Instrumental Variables Strategy

An empirical technique used to estimate causal relationships when controlled experiments are not feasible, by using external or predetermined variables as instruments.

Municipal Government

A local government authority that governs a specific urban area, responsible for providing local services, including law enforcement.

Aggressive Imposition of Fees

A critical practice where police departments impose and collect financial penalties that may distract from their primary function of ensuring public safety.

Implicit Bias

Unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that affect understanding, actions, and decisions in different contexts, including law enforcement.

Institutional Incentives

Factors that motivate behavior within organizations, affecting decision-making and resource allocation in entities like police departments.

Resource Allocation

The distribution of resources, such as manpower and funding, toward different activities within an organization, like law enforcement and revenue collection.

Public Safety Providers

Entities, primarily police departments, tasked with ensuring the safety and security of residents in a community.

Vicious Cycle of Exploitation

A harmful cycle where aggressive collection of fines and fees leads to reduced trust in law enforcement, ultimately impacting crime investigation efficiency.