Essays on the Criminal Justice System: Quasi-Experimental Evidence on Policing and Incarceration

This dissertation consists of three papers that use quasi-experimental methods to examine key aspects of the criminal justice system, including incarceration, policing, and sentencing. Chapter 1 examines whether the distance between prison and an incarcerated individual's home affects in-prison and post-release outcomes, exploiting quasi-random facility assignment. I find that placement farther from home increases prison readmission rates, driven by reduced visitation from family and friends. Using distance as an instrument, I then estimate the causal effect of visitation on recidivism and find that additional visits reduce reoffending. I further provide evidence that improved housing stability is one mechanism underlying this relationship. Chapter 2 evaluates the causal effect of crisis intervention team (CIT) training, a mental health de-escalation method, for police officers on use of force and arrest behavior, leveraging variation in the timing of training across officers. I find no evidence that this training reduces arrests or use of force. Chapter 3 studies a prison diversion program for parents with dependent minor children. There is some suggestive evidence of a short-run increase in offending, consistent with reduced incapacitation, though these effects do not persist overtime and imprecisely estimated.