ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews evidence on the economic efficiency or monetary value of crime prevention programs. Twenty-six crime prevention studies meeting the criteria were identified. The chapter reports on what is known about the costs and benefits and, ultimately, the economic efficiency of crime prevention programs. The specific focus on economic efficiency is not meant to imply that crime prevention programs should be continued only if benefits outweigh costs. The chapter examines the monetary costs and benefits of crime prevention programs from three principal crime prevention strategies: developmental, situational, and criminal justice prevention. Unlike the two other crime prevention strategies covered in the chapter, a great deal has been published on the application of economic evaluation techniques to correctional intervention. For each of the three prevention strategies, it summarizes the key features of the studies and the main findings pertaining to monetary costs and benefits and reviews in detail a selected study.
