Understanding Police Alternatives: Demand

Last registered on October 12, 2023

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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title

Understanding Police Alternatives: Demand

RCT ID

AEARCTR-0011938

Initial registration date

August 16, 2023

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published

October 12, 2023, 1:26 PM EDT

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country

United States of America

Region

Primary Investigator

Name

bocar ba

Affiliation

duke

Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name

Rachel Mariman

PI Affiliation

UPenn, Wharton

Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status

In development

Start date

2023-10-09

End date

2023-12-18

Keywords

Crime, Violence, & Conflict, Gender, Governance

Additional Keywords

public safety, police alternatives

JEL code(s)

k42

Secondary IDs

Prior work

This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.

Abstract

We will conduct a comprehensive survey targeting an online sample of the U.S. population to assess their preferences for police engagement in specific issues or scenarios. Survey participants will be randomly assigned to view brief informational videos that outline various degrees of alternative resources to traditional policing within the United States.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation

ba, bocar and Rachel Mariman. 2023. "Understanding Police Alternatives: Demand." AEA RCT Registry. October 12. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.11938-1.0

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)

Respondents are randomly assigned to one of three video treatment arms: (1) Control – government hotlines, (2) Police Violence, (3) Don’t Call the Police. We test whether treatments change respondents' level of demand for police or police alternatives.

Intervention Start Date

2023-10-10

Intervention End Date

2023-12-18

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)

1) Police index z-score
2) Violent index z-score
3) Nonviolent index z-score
4) Respondent's willingness to call the police for five scenarios

Primary Outcomes (explanation)

1) Police index equals an equally weighted average of z-scores of the five scenarios
2) Violent index equals an equally weighted average of z-scores of the violent crime and domestic violence scenarios
3) Nonviolent index equals an equally weighted average of z-scores of the homelessness and mental health scenarios
4) Respondent's willingness to call the police (0 to 100) for scenarios involving:
a violent crime; domestic violence; homelessness; mental health (erratic behavior in public); mental health (threats of suicide)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)

see Explanations

Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

1) Respondent's preference for who should respond (police, social worker, no one) to each of the scenarios (violent crime, domestic violence, homelessness, mental health)
2) Police should respond (0 = no scenario to 5 = all scenarios): the number of scenarios where the respondent wants the police to respond
3) Social Worker should respond (0 = no scenario to 5 = all scenarios): the number of scenarios where the respondent wants social workers to respond
4) No one should respond (0 = no scenario to 5 = all scenarios): the number of scenarios where the respondent wants no one to respond
5) Advice (1 = bottom choice to 5 = top choice): respondent's ranked preference for expert group (academic, community organizer, lawyer, police officer, none) they would want to receive advice from about how to handle the scenarios
6) Support for an organization that provides resources for police well-being (status quo) (0 = no, 1 = yes): an organization that aims to improve officer safety, as well as health and wellness in police
7) Support for an organization that provides tools to reform police (reform)(0 = no, 1 = yes): an organization involved in training police officers to improve their empathy and understanding of mental illness through crisis intervention training
8) Support for an organization that aims to reduce the role of police (reduce) (0 = no, 1 = yes): an organization that provides information on mental health crisis resources that do not involve the police
9) Qualitative Responses: analysis and classification of open text responses in which respondents explain their answers to the scenario questions

Experimental Design

Respondents are randomly assigned to one of three video treatment arms: (1) Control – government hotlines, (2) Police Violence, (3) Don’t Call the Police.

Experimental Design Details

Respondents are randomly assigned to one of three video treatment arms: (1) Control – government hotlines, (2) Police Violence, (3) Don’t Call the Police.

Randomization Method

We use Qualtrics

Randomization Unit

respondent level

Was the treatment clustered?

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters

cluster at the individual level.

Sample size: planned number of observations

We will recruit 3,000 on Prolific and assign 1,000 per treatment arm. We plan to collect two additional samples (1) nonbinary individuals on Prolific, (2) 18-24-year-old individuals on Prolific.

Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms

About 1000 individuals in Control – government hotlines, (2) About 1000 individuals in Police Violence, (3) About 1000 individuals in Don’t Call the Police.

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)

N/A

Supporting Documents and Materials

IRB