Opposition material - City Clerk - City of Jonesboro

Effects ofProhibition 15
not affect the ability of individuals to become intoxicated and to drive
afterwards.
The only policy variable having a systematic predictive impact on drunk
driving arrests and total crashes is the proportion of police in a county. As
can be expected with drunk driving, the more police, the more arrests.
Specifically, for every additional police officer per 1,000 residents, an additional
1.7 drunk driving arrests are made. On the other hand, the finding that the
more police officers there are per 1,000 citizens in a county, the more total
alcohol and drug related property damage and total accidents occur, is a bit
counterintuitive. This finding might indicate either a policy decision to deal
with a perceived problem of drunk driving by employing more police, or it
may imply that police are discovering more accidents.
Of the geographic and demographic variables, the Delta dummy,
geographic size and median household income significantly affect property
damage and total accidents. Specifically, there is a greater likelihood ofcrashes
outside the Delta, which can be expected due to the Delta's flat terrain and to
the rest ofthe state being either hilly or mountainous. Geographically larger
counties had more property damage crashes, potentially due to the need to
travel greater distances. Median household income has a slight positive
effect on property damage accidents, likely due persons of higher income
having more personal property that could potentially be damaged.
Dis~ussioD
Multivariate analysis of adult alcohol and adult drug arrest rates shows
that crime control capacity in the fonn of the number ofpolice per J.OOO
residents is statistically significant and is the most powerful detenninant of
adult alcohol arrest rates. However, the policy variable concerning wet-dampdry
counties, while operating in the expected direction, does not achieve
statistical significance. Therefore, we can conclude that with adult arrest
rate data, Grossman's assertions do not hold.
In addition, based on Grossman's "gateway" hypothesis, both juvenile
drug and alcohol-based arrest rates should be highest in wet counties, then
damp, and finally lowest in dry counties. When analyzed using multivariate
OLS regression, juvenile alcohol and drug arrest rates are higher in dry than
in either damp or wet counties, although the relationships are not statistically
significant.
Univariate analysis of differences in drunk driving and accident rates
based on county alcohol policy, with the exception ofalcohol and drug related