Inter-American Development Bank
facebook
twitter
youtube
linkedin
instagram
Abierto al públicoBeyond BordersCaribbean Development TrendsCiudades SosteniblesEnergía para el FuturoEnfoque EducaciónFactor TrabajoGente SaludableGestión fiscalGobernarteIdeas MatterIdeas que CuentanIdeaçãoImpactoIndustrias CreativasLa Maleta AbiertaMoviliblogMás Allá de las FronterasNegocios SosteniblesPrimeros PasosPuntos sobre la iSeguridad CiudadanaSostenibilidadVolvamos a la fuente¿Y si hablamos de igualdad?Home
Citizen Security and Justice Creative Industries Development Effectiveness Early Childhood Development Education Energy Envirnment. Climate Change and Safeguards Fiscal policy and management Gender and Diversity Health Labor and pensions Open Knowledge Public management Science, Technology and Innovation  Trade and Regional Integration Urban Development and Housing Water and Sanitation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Ideas Matter

  • HOME
  • CATEGORIES
    • Behavioral Economics
    • Environment and Climate Change
    • Macroeconomics and Finance
    • Microeconomics and Competitiveness
    • Politics and Institutions
    • Social Issues
  • Authors
  • Spanish

Tackling Crime and Pollution Together

July 7, 2016 by John Dunn Smith Leave a Comment


Crime represents a major concern for Latin Americans. Increasingly, so does pollution. It is unusual, though, to consider relationships and tradeoffs between them.

Yet these are precisely the issues explored by Visiting Scholar Paul Carrillo and his George Washington University colleagues Arun Malik and Andrea López in a recent study for the IDB. The authors took as their case study Quito’s driving restriction program Pico y Placa, freely translated into English as “rush hour and license plate.” Like similar programs in cities around the world, on alternate weekdays Pico y Placa restricts access to a center city area to autos with even or odd final digits on their license plates.

Unlike many such programs, though, Pico y Placa has proven effective, as carbon monoxide levels fell by 10% during the May 2010-May 2012 period considered. This outcome was apparently the result of vigorous enforcement by local and national police at 11 fixed checkpoints at the boundaries of the restricted area and 15 random locations inside the restricted area, with a steep fine and one-day vehicle impoundment for a first offense. Even if some violations went unreported due to bribery, Pico y Placa largely achieved its objectives.

But this success came at a surprisingly high price. Within the restricted area, reported property crime increased by an estimated 5% to 10%, only during the restricted hours: working days peak travel hours of 7-9:30 a.m. and 4-7:30 p.m. No increases were found during non-restricted hours. That overall increase encompassed an even more troubling pattern: during those hours property crime near the boundary of the restricted area—i.e., in places near the boundary but far from the 11 checkpoints—increased by an estimated 60%.

Why, then, did cleaning up the air lead to an increase in crime? The authors found no obvious change in the use of public transportation, which would have provided an especially target-rich environment for pickpockets and purse-snatchers. Dr. Carrillo and his colleagues did, however, find “displacement.” In other words, there are only so many police officers to go around. Officers assigned to checking license plates and impounding approximately 200 cars every weekday are not available for other police functions such as patrolling streets and monitoring suspicious activity. If criminals know where police are present, they can infer where police are likely to be absent and act accordingly.

The lessons of this experience were not lost on Quito. Since the period under consideration the city has created a separate unit to enforce driving restrictions in the urban core, freeing up police for their traditional tasks. If other cities can find ways to enforce driving restrictions effectively without diverting limited police personnel, they may likewise move toward minimizing potential tradeoffs between controlling pollution and controlling crime.

 


Filed Under: Social Issues Tagged With: #crime, #pollution, #Traffic

John Dunn Smith

Dunn Smith es editor asistente del Departamento de Investigación del BID

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Follow Us

Subscribe

Search

Related posts

  • Taking a Micro Approach to Crime
  • How Better Ambient and Street Lighting Reduces Crime
  • Preventing Crime with Construction Projects
  • To Fight Crime, Increase Trust
  • Slavery, Inequality and Crime

About this blog

The blog of the IDB's Research Department shares ideas that matter on public policy and development in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Footer

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo
facebook
twitter
youtube
youtube
youtube

Blog posts written by Bank employees:

Copyright © Inter-American Development Bank ("IDB"). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons IGO 3.0 Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives. (CC-IGO 3.0 BY-NC-ND) license and may be reproduced with attribution to the IDB and for any non-commercial purpose. No derivative work is allowed. Any dispute related to the use of the works of the IDB that cannot be settled amicably shall be submitted to arbitration pursuant to the UNCITRAL rules. The use of the IDB's name for any purpose other than for attribution, and the use of IDB's logo shall be subject to a separate written license agreement between the IDB and the user and is not authorized as part of this CC- IGO license. Note that link provided above includes additional terms and conditions of the license.


For blogs written by external parties:

For questions concerning copyright for authors that are not IADB employees please complete the contact form for this blog.

The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the IDB, its Board of Directors, or the countries they represent.

Attribution: in addition to giving attribution to the respective author and copyright owner, as appropriate, we would appreciate if you could include a link that remits back the IDB Blogs website.



Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo

Aviso Legal

Las opiniones expresadas en estos blogs son las de los autores y no necesariamente reflejan las opiniones del Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, sus directivas, la Asamblea de Gobernadores o sus países miembros.

facebook
twitter
youtube
This site uses cookies to optimize functionality and give you the best possible experience. If you continue to navigate this website beyond this page, cookies will be placed on your browser.
To learn more about cookies, click here
X
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.

SAVE & ACCEPT