b'F E A T U R EThe Economics of PolicingAdding social impactsBy Jeff Channell, Executive Director, York Regional PoliceT hephraseEconomicsofproductivityduetoinjuryordeathIn2013,PublicSafetyii Canada Policinghasbeen widelyandthoseassociatedwithfearofhostedtheNationalSummiton usedtodescribethein- crimeandreducedqualityoflife.theEconomicsofPolicing, which creasingcostsofpolicing,Thesecostsaresignificant,repre- explored efficiencies within policing withanintentionalresultsenting over five per cent of Canadasandjusticesystemsaswellas ofdownwardpressureappliedonnational product.newmodelsofcommunitysafety. policebudgets.ItstimetorethinkSubsequentstudiesraisedconcerns the misuse of this term and focus onThesocialimpactofcrimeisoverthesustainabilityofspending a proper evaluation while exploringestimatedannuallybyfederalincreases in policing and the criminal the costs and benefits of policing.governmentsintheU.S.,U.K.andjusticesystem.Theoutcomehas EconomicsprovidesaframeworkAustralia. The social impact from vic- beenachallengeforpolicingever forunderstandingtheimpactoftimization in 2019 was $1.66 trillion orsince.Nationalexpendituresfor crime and the wide-ranging impactsover seven per cent of gross domesticpolicing in Canada have increased an onindividuals,communitiesandproduct in the U.S., followed by 95average of 2.2 per cent per year from theeconomy.In2014,theFraserbillion(3.8percent)intheUnited$13.5 billion in 2012 to $16.5 billion in Institute estimated the social impactKingdomand$47.5billion(2.8per2021, iiicompared to annual increases of crime in Canada to be $85 billion. i cent) in Australia. The data showedof5.4percentinhealth iv and4.6 TheInstituteincludeddirectcosts,violent crimes generally have higherper cent in education. vThe focus on such as medical expenses, propertycosts than property crimes and thatcostcontainmenthasdeveloped damage, policing and criminal justicevictimizationvariesbyregionandlargelywithoutanalysisevaluat-costs, and indirect costs, such as lostdemographic group. ingthesocialimpactofcrimeor 12 H.Q. Summer 2023'