Research
Job Market Paper
Abstract: Do female officers handle domestic violence calls for service differently than their male counterparts? I study this question empirically using novel data from Seattle. Patrol officers are quasirandomly assigned to incidents, which allows me to identify that causal effect of officer gender on policing outcomes. Teams with at least one female officer are more likely to find the initial report credible: Incidents described as domestic violence by the call taker are more likely to retain that designation and to be recorded as a crime. In less severe cases, where officers have more discretion, the presence of a female officer also increases the probability of an arrest being made. These differences lead to lower rates of future victimization in the short run. I also find evidence that teams with female officers exert more effort at the scene than their all-male counterparts when responding to these incidents. Taken together, my findings highlight the importance of gender diversity in law enforcement and suggest that the strategic dispatch of female officers could enhance the effectiveness of police responses to domestic violence.
Publications
Crime and Gender Segregation: Evidence from the Bogota “Pico y Genero” Lockdown
With Brian Knight and Ana Maria Tribin, The World Bank Economic Review, Volume 38, Issue 3 (2024)
Abstract: The city of Bogota implemented a lockdown during the pandemic under which only men were allowed out on odd days and only women were allowed out on even days. Crime rates in Bogota increased, relative to a synthetic Bogota and relative to the pre-period, during this gender-based lockdown. Moreover, this increase is driven by more crime on men-only days and, more specifically, more robberies with male victims on men-only days. There is no evidence that higher crime rates on men-only days are offset by lower crime rates on women-only days. In fact, there is evidence of some increases in crimes with female victims on women-only days. In particular, there was an increase in robberies involving female victims on women-only days during the second half of the lockdown, when some restrictions were eased and more men, and thus more potential perpetrators, were on the streets. Overall, the gender-based lockdown, if anything, increased crime.
Working Papers
With Luca Rizzotti
Abstract: We revisit the importance of policing management practices as a determinant of crime and officers’ behavior, a relevant issue that has been under-studied so far. To do so, we leverage the staggered introduction by over 100 large US police departments of Compstat, a management system based on regular, data-driven, performance reviews of middle managers. Using a dynamic difference-in-differences approach, we show that Compstat has helped bring down crime rates by around 10%, with both violent and property offenses significantly decreasing. The main identified mechanism is deterrence, achieved through improvements in crime mapping and incentivized by regular performance reviews. However, the reliance of departments adopting Compstat on quantifiable statistical indicators seems to incentivize officers to increase arrests of civilians for minor offenses. We provide suggestive evidence that these additional arrests do not play a significant role in the crime decline and therefore constitute a welfare loss. This is especially true for Black residents, as they experience a dispro- portionate increase in such arrests. Our results suggest that Compstat is an effective strategy to fight crime, but its adoption should be accompanied by regulation and/or oversight to avoid over-policing.
The Voting and Re-distributive Consequences of Felon Enfranchisement
[Draft available upon request]
Abstract: In the United States, most states restrict voting rights for individuals with felony convictions. This paper examines how relaxing these restrictions affects voting and the distribution of state transfers, especially in areas with disproportionately more people impacted by mass incarceration. Results show that in states that ease restrictions, voter turnout rises in counties with larger historical Black populations. However, per capita state transfers to these counties decline, driven mainly by Red states. Survey data also suggests backlash: uneducated white residents in states where felon voting restrictons were relaxed become more opposed to government aid for Black residents and are more likely to self-identify as Republicans.
Selected Work in Progress
The Impact of School Start and End Times on Juvenile Delinquency
Call if you can, text if you can't: The Effect of Text-to-911 on Reporting of Domestic Violence