Evaluation of the efficacy and effectiveness of the Spanish security forces

Abstract

This work aims to study the efficacy and effectiveness of Spanish police forces concerning major crimes—differentiating those against property, public safety, the person, and sexual liberty and indemnity—in the 2001–2006 period, using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). To study their efficacy we will consider both operational efficacy, defined as the ratio between solved crimes and tasks, and goals efficacy, intended to show the effect of operational efficacy on the level of crime in the subsequent year, which is measured by the annual variation in major crimes. The analysis of the effectiveness of Spanish police forces attempts to measure the impact of goals efficacy on how people perceive local security. To determine their effectiveness we will also consider the tourism variation index, population and economic activity and their influence on the variation in the number of crimes. The results show that the average operational effectiveness of police during the period analysed reaches 96%, with optimal behaviour in 19% of the stations analysed. Additionally, our findings show that the average goals effectiveness is 89% and the average effectiveness turns out to be 89%.