Measurement and determinants of efficiency in the municipal police service

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the efficiency of the police service in Spanish municipalities with a population of more than 50,000 inhabitants. Using Data Envelopment Analysis, we obtain the efficiency levels and the targets that the input and outputs have to reach to be efficient in the provision of the police service. Next, and based on the literature, the effect of the following environmental variables is verified: young population, number of foreigners, unemployment, municipal per capita income, tourist level of the municipality, and ideology and political strength of the municipal government. Findings show that an increase in the number of young people in the municipality means an improved efficiency in the local police service. In contrast, cultural diversity (measured by the percentage of foreigners in the total population), unemployment, the mayor's ideology and political fragmentation of government do not have a significant effect on the level of efficiency. On the other hand, higher municipal per capita income means less efficiency, while an increase in tourism activity is related to the improvement of this.