Police and Thieves in the Stadium: Measuring the (Multiple) Effects of Football Matches on Crime

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37 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Large sporting events affect criminal behaviour via three channels: fan concentration, self-incapacitation and police displacement. I exploit information on football matches for London teams linked to detailed recorded crime data at the area level to estimate these effects empirically. I find that only property crime increases in the communities hosting matches but not violent offences. There is a negative away game attendance effect on crime which is due to voluntary incapacitation of potential offenders attending a match. Police displacement during home games increases property crime by 7 percentage points for every extra 10000 supporters in areas that are left underprotected.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)273-292
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of the Royal Statistical Society. Series A. Statistics in Society
Volume179
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

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