I examine the effects of replacing arrests with criminal citations for low-level offenses on defendant outcomes and future criminal charges. Using Maryland court records, I implement a difference-in-discontinuities design that exploits a 2013 policy shock encouraging citations in lieu of arrest. I find the policy increased citation issuance by 48.5% and decreased pretrial detention by 36.3% among eligible defendants, with little evidence of increases in failures to appear or re-offending.  However, reduced pretrial detention among eligible defendants is offset by increased detention among defendants charged with more serious, citation-ineligible offenses, leaving aggregate pretrial detention unchanged. 

Working papers

The Effects of Restricting Police Chases on Public Safety (Draft)
Revise & Resubmit at Journal of Human Resources

This paper examines the effects of police departments implementing restrictive vehicular pursuit policies that limit chases to suspects of violent felonies. Using stacked difference-in-differences models and synthetic control methods, I analyze the impact of these policy changes on fatal police chase accidents and motor vehicle theft. I compile an original dataset of restrictive pursuit policy enactments, linked to data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System and Uniform Crime Reporting program. I estimate a 41.3% reduction in fatal police chase accidents following the policy adoption. Motor vehicle theft increases by an imprecise 3.5%, while its clearance rate declines by 10.5% 

Publications

Works in Progress