Assessing the impact of safe consumption sites on neighborhood crime in New York City: a synthetic control approach

Objectives

The study analyzes the impact of supervised consumption sites (SCSs) on local crime in New York City (NYC), examining both violent and property crimes.

Methods

We use a count-based synthetic control approach to compare police administrative crime data before and after SCS establishment in two NYC neighborhoods. This quasi-experimental design was used to infer the causal effects of SCSs on neighborhood crime, using an evaluation framework across a range of local spatial bandwidths.

Results

We found a significant 167% increase in property crimes within 1000 feet of the Washington Heights SCS after it opened as an SCS. We did not see changes in violence or property crimes near the East Harlem site. These findings suggest a differential impact of SCSs on neighborhood crime, possibly moderated by local factors.

Conclusion

This research contributes to our understanding of how SCSs impact neighborhoods, suggesting that their effect on neighborhood crime is not uniform and may be dependent on local context. It underscores the need for further research to understand the interaction between public health interventions and local crime trends.