ABSTRACT
While crime’s most direct impact is on victims, the cost of investigating, apprehending, prosecuting and punishing offenders is the largest component of the tangible costs of crime. The cost of the criminal justice system is almost exclusively borne directly by taxpayers. According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, in fiscal year 2015, $275 billion was spent by all levels of government on police ($132 billion), corrections ($84 billion), and the criminal justice judicial/legal system ($59 billion). This amounts to about $900 per person per year in the U.S. Costs vary by jurisdiction and over time depending upon the crime rate – but also based on policing practices, sentencing policies, and decriminalization trends. In addition, government agencies ultimately pay for many of the costs of victimization outside the traditional criminal justice system such as health care expenditures to victims of crime through government-supported health systems. This Chapter enumerates the direct taxpayer costs associated with the criminal justice system and victim assistance programs – whether by governmental or nonprofit organizations.
