A police department is trying to allocate crime control resources between murder and burglary.Detectives cost $40,000 each.Suppose that she marginal benefit of one less murder is $20,000 while the marginal benefit of one less burglary is $1,000.The number of murders and burglaries that occur at different levels of detective allocation is shown in the table. $\begin{array}{ccc}
\begin{array}{c}
\text { Number of } \
\underline {\text { Detectives Assigned }}
\end{array} & \begin{array}{c}
\text { Number of } \
\underline {\text { Murders }}
\end{array} & \begin{array}{c}
\text { Number of } \
\underline {\text { Burglaries }}
\end{array} \
0 & 20 & 100 \
1 & 16 & 60 \
2 & 13 & 30 \
3 & 11 & 10 \
4 & 10 & 0
\end{array}$
Suppose the police department has $160,000 to spend on detectives.The allocation of detectives which results in the greatest social benefit is to assign

Question

A police department is trying to allocate crime control resources between murder and burglary.Detectives cost $40,000 each.Suppose that she marginal benefit of one less murder is $20,000 while the marginal benefit of one less burglary is $1,000.The number of murders and burglaries that occur at different levels of detective allocation is shown in the table. $\begin{array}{ccc}
\begin{array}{c}
\text { Number of } \
 \underline {\text { Detectives Assigned }}
\end{array} & \begin{array}{c}
\text { Number of } \
 \underline {\text { Murders }}
\end{array} & \begin{array}{c}
\text { Number of } \
 \underline {\text { Burglaries }}
\end{array} \
0 & 20 & 100 \
1 & 16 & 60 \
2 & 13 & 30 \
3 & 11 & 10 \
4 & 10 & 0
\end{array}$
Suppose the police department has $160,000 to spend on detectives.The allocation of detectives which results in the greatest social benefit is to assign

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Assigning three detectives to murder prevention and one to burglary results in the greatest social benefit, as it optimizes the reduction in both murders and burglaries given the marginal benefits and costs.

A Police Department Is Trying to Allocate Crime Control Resources