Vera Institute of Justice

Overview

Like other government agencies, police departments are under great pressure to get the biggest return possible when investing taxpayers’ dollars in justice programs and policies. The Law Enforcement Forecasting Group of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance asked Vera to develop a resource to help police departments address questions about spending on crime analysts—and about justifying that spending. As part of its Cost-Benefit Knowledge Bank for Criminal Justice, Vera’s Cost-Benefit Analysis Unit staff created this paper, which law enforcement agencies can use as they weigh their options on staffing and programs.