Does Police Immunity from Wrongful Arrests Really Deter Crime?
"In the wake of ongoing attention to police misconduct, a new economic
study considers the cost of granting full immunity to officers for
wrongful arrests and detention of innocent people, instead proposing a
model of 'qualified immunity.'
According to the paper forthcoming in Economic Inquiry, many
police jurisdictions grant officers immunity from penalties for these
errors under the belief that harsh discipline would cause them to become
“timid” during encounters with suspects, and potentially weaken law
enforcement efforts. However, economists have long argued that wrongful
arrests also lower the 'opportunity cost” of committing a crime.'"
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