The Crime Report (3/29/21)

An independent research study showing that a decline in prosecutions for misdemeanors and other non-violent offenses does not imperil public safety is adding new impetus to reforms by so-called “progressive” district attorneys in Boston, Chicago and Baltimore. 

The study by the National Bureau of Economic Research found that reducing prosecutions for some low-level offenses in Massachusetts’ Suffolk County, where Boston is located, can lead to less crime committed in the future while not impacting public safety....

Highlighting the  Suffolk County research conducted by Amanda Agan from Rutgers University, Jennifer L. Doleac from Texas A&M University, and Anna Harvey from New York University, the group analyzed 67,553 misdemeanor cases in Boston, Winthrop, Revere and Chelsea from 2004 to 2018.  

They found that people who were arrested but not prosecuted on low-level, nonviolent misdemeanors — like shoplifting, drug possession, or motor vehicle offenses — were “58 percent less likely to commit another crime in Suffolk County in the following two years,” according to the study. 

One of the main reasons for the drop in potential to commit another crime is that the original interaction with the justice system is enough to shake the defendant, and set them on track for the future — only 24 percent of defendants returned to court for another offense within two years, compared with 57 percent of defendants whose charges were fully prosecuted, according to the researchers.

“Our results imply that a prosecutor’s decision to not charge a defendant with a nonviolent misdemeanor significantly reduces their probability of future criminal legal contact,” Rutgers University professor Amanda Agan, told WBUR. “Or put the other direction: prosecuting these defendants actually decreases public safety."

READ MORE