Politics, Economics, and Urban Policing

Abstract

This paper sets forth the hypothesis that the more that a city’s economy reflects the creative class and cultural tourism elements that characterize “new economy”-style postindustrial cities, the more that the police will emphasize heightened order maintenance. Such a thesis is evident in case studies on innovations in urban social control and on cities aspiring to global city status. But the thesis needs empirical test across a large sample of cities that vary on “new economy” status, with alternative explanations for variation in order maintenance policing simultaneously taken into account. This paper provides that test for cities above 100,000 in population, controlling for variables representing the racial threat thesis, governing institutions, community policing, and policing demands and constraints. The results provide robust support for the postindustrial policing hypothesis.