Evaluating the effects of resources and solvability on burglary detection

This study examines the effects of police officer resources and incident solvability, or the ease with which offences may be solved, on burglary detection. It is based on data from computerised police incident logs and self-completed surveys of officers. Findings indicate that the application of resources to the investigation of solvable incidents helps explains detection levels. Solvability characteristics determine whether burglaries may be solved, but successful detection is contingent on resource inputs, which enable detection potential due to solvability to be realised. Resources appear to be more cost-effectively used in earlier investigative stages than in detectives’ further investigations. Better solvability predictors of ‘intermediate outputs’ and of the promising cases for further investigation by detectives, would enable resources to be more cost-effectively allocated. Findings differ from those of earlier studies in so far as large resource inputs raise detection rates for high solvability cases while some low solvability offences are solved, indicating that not all low solvability cases should be screened out by triage.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Taylor & Francis at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=gpas20&page=instructions#copyright