Evidence from the 2005 London bombings and the recent riots shows that police patrols are one tool policy-makers can count on to reduce crime

Since the riots in London and England earlier this month, there has been a flurry of debate as to the effectiveness of the police response. Drawing on new research into the police response to the 2005 bombings in London, Mirko Draca finds that a 10 per cent increase in police patrols in a certain area leads to a 3 per cent drop in crime in that area. While police patrols will not solve all our crime problems, they are very effective in reducing crime in the short-term, and there may be room to improve the effectiveness of smaller scale police patrols outside of emergencies.