PRIVATE PROTECTION AGAINST CRIME

This paper studies private protection against crime. It examines the f act that when individuals decide to privately protect their properties , two opposite effects take place. On one hand, the probability of app rehending a criminal attempting to steal a property is increased; this should discourage potential criminals. On the other hand, the signal is sent that something valuable had to be protected; this may attract criminals. This paper's contribution is to take into account the fact that private protection conveys information to the criminals. The poss ibility for the individuals to parade as protected is also considered. Whether private protection carries information depends on whether the mimicking device is free or costly. (C) 1995 Academic Press, Inc.