Mainstreaming Methodology for Estimating Costs of Crime
This site is the product of a project to extend awareness of the methodology for estimating the costs of crime.
The project was funded by the European Commission as part of the Sixth Framework Programme supporting policy-oriented research.
The materials here were collected, and in many cases authored by, the network of researchers assembled for the project. The listing of participating researchers and their institutions indicates that many of the leading figures in cost of crime estimation have been involved in the project.
The background to the project is that criminal justice agencies in a few EU states make significant use of cost of crime methodology and incorporate the resulting estimates in the appraisal (ex ante) and the evaluation (ex post) of interventions, projects and pilots. But in many states the methodology is not employed, resulting in a lack of means for developing an evidence base documenting the benefits of criminal justice interventions.
The MMECC project had three principal goals. The first was to audit the methodology used for estimating the costs of crime across member states, and the use that is currently made of the methodology and the resulting estimates. The second was to bring together criminal justice policy analysts from member states and academic researchers from related fields to share findings about methodology for estimating the costs of crime and about utilising the findings. The third was to compile a series of resources including data, learning materials and interactive models for use by policymakers and others wishing to review the methodology for making estimates of the costs of crime, to explore examples of the application of the estimates in real-world criminal justice policy settings or to share their experience with others.
This web site presents the fruits of the project. Its objectives are thus primarily to present an outline of the methodology for estimating the costs of crime and to demonstrate how the resulting estimates can be used for purposes of supporting criminal justice policy analysis.
