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Community Policing and Public Trust: A Field Experiment in Colombia

Last registered on February 05, 2018
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Community Policing and Public Trust: A Field Experiment in Colombia
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0002708
Initial registration date
February 03, 2018

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
February 05, 2018, 12:47 PM EST

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

Locations

Country
Colombia
Region
Medellin

Primary Investigator

Name
Eric Arias
Affiliation
Princeton University
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Rebecca Hanson
PI Affiliation
University of Florida
Contact Investigator
PI Name
Dorothy Kronick
PI Affiliation
University of Pennsylvania
Contact Investigator

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2018-02-19
End date
2018-10-31
Keywords
Governance, Post-conflict
Additional Keywords
police, community policing, information
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Abstract
We propose to use a randomized controlled trial to evaluate the effect of two treatments—police-community dialogues, and provision of information related to citizen security—on citizen attitudes toward the police, police perceptions of citizens, and rates of reporting of crimes and of suspicious activity. Each of approximately 400 neighborhoods will be randomly assigned to one of four groups: control (no intervention), police-community dialogues only, information provision only, or both dialogues and information provision. In addition to administrative data on crime reporting, we will use surveys to understand whether and how the dialogues and the provision of information affect community attitudes and police perceptions.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Arias, Eric, Rebecca Hanson and Dorothy Kronick. 2018. "Community Policing and Public Trust: A Field Experiment in Colombia." AEA RCT Registry. February 05. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.2708-1.0
Former Citation
Arias, Eric, Rebecca Hanson and Dorothy Kronick. 2018. "Community Policing and Public Trust: A Field Experiment in Colombia." AEA RCT Registry. February 05. https://www.socialscienceregistry.org/trials/2708/history/25514
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The community meetings treatment consists of holding bi-monthly town-hall meetings with citizens and local leaders, with the goal of allowing residents, local leaders, other community stakeholders, and the police to discuss local crime and disorder problems and to engage in problem solving using standard problem-oriented policing approaches.

The information part of the intervention involves providing factual information about local crime trends.Along with crime trends, we will also provide information about police performance and about the availability of crime reporting platforms.
Intervention Start Date
2018-03-01
Intervention End Date
2018-08-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Our primary outcomes of interest are (1) trust in the police and the state, (2) citizen cooperation with the police and (3) crime rates.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary outcomes of interest are voter turnout, support for the government-led peace process, and police behavior.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We propose two interventions to identify the importance of community dialogues and information provises for the citizen-police relation, namely police-community dialogues, and provision of information related to citizen security. Each of approximately 400 precicnts will be randomly assigned to one of four groups: control (no intervention), police-community dialogues only, information provision only, or both dialogues and information provision.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Cuadrante (police beat).
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
Approximately 400 cuadrantes
Sample size: planned number of observations
Approximately 400 cuadrantes and 5000 individuals (survey)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
100 cuadrantes control, 100 cuadrantes to police-community meetings only, 100 cuadrantes to information provision via leaflets only, 100 cuadrantes both treatments.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
University of Florida Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2017-09-29
IRB Approval Number
IRB201701883
IRB Name
University of Pennsylvania Institutional Review Board
IRB Approval Date
2018-01-31
IRB Approval Number
Protocol #827913
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials