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Contributor/author(s): Kyle D.J.

"First, you do the crime..."

Crime is a parameter that is calculated for each individual tile on the map. The crime value represents the number of potential crimes that could be committed in that tile per month (call it a "risk of crime"). Obviously a lower crime value is better. The game's police/crime map shows the distribution of crime in the city. This map is only "half-resolution" as it does not show crime for every map tile, but instead for 2x2 groups of tiles called "cells". The crime value shown on the game's crime graph is the average per-tile crime in the city, calculated using cell crime values. This concept is tricky, but all that it means practically is that your actual average crime in the city is probably slightly higher than the crime value shown on the game's crime graph.

The simulation updates the crime map every 40 days.

Ordinances affect the crime as follows:

Per    Per
Cell   Tile   Ordinance
~~~~   ~~~~   ~~~~~~~~~
-16    - 4    Neighborhood Watch
- 8    - 2    Conservation Corps
- 8    - 2    Junior Sports
- 8    - 2    Youth Curfew
+80    -20    Legalized Gambling
(The game works in terms of cells, so I've given the per-tile values for
convenience. In general the per-tile values won't be exact, but are close 
enough for practical reference.)

Certain buildings and zones can affect the crime in a tile. The following table lists these buildings and their effects. There is an effect on crime in the area surrounding the building, and a range over which these effects extend beyond the edge of the building. (Note that tiles are used, not cells, so the effect is per tile and the range is in tiles.) Also note that very few buildings can actually reduce crime.

Effect   Range    Building
~~~~~~   ~~~~~    ~~~~~~~~

Rewards

 -80      40      Quigley Castle (secret reward from cheat code)
 -30      30      Judicial (County Courthouse)
 -20      20      City Hall
 + 3       1      Stock Exchange
 +15      10      University
 +16      14      Theme Park
 +20       5      Spaceport
 +20      16      Stadium
 +20      20      Military Base

Business Opportunities

 +20      16      GigaMall
 +25      17      Casino Row

City Services

 + 6       3      Parks (Small, Large, Ballpark, Pond, Playground, & Fountain)
 +10       5      School
 +15       5      City College

Transportation

 +15       3      Bus Station
 +20       3      Train Station
 +25       3      Subway Station
 +25       3      Subway-to-Rail Station

Zones

 + 1       2      LD LLV Res
 + 1       1      LD MLV Res
 + 1       1      LD HLV Res
 + 3       4      MD LLV Res
 + 2       4      MD MLV Res
 + 1       5      MD HLV Res
 + 2       6      HD LLV Res
 + 4       4      HD MLV Res
 + 3       4      HD HLV Res
 + 3       2      LD LMLV Com
 + 5       1      LD MHLV Com
 + 3       4      MD LMLV Com
 + 4       3      MD MHLV Com
 + 4       6      HD LMLV Com
 + 4       6      HD MHLV Com
 + 3       2      LD Dirty Ind
 + 4       3      MD Dirty Ind
 + 5       3      HD Dirty Ind
 + 2       2      LD Clean Ind
 + 4       2      MD Clean Ind
 + 5       2      HD Clean Ind
 + 1       1      Agricultural (farm)
 + 4       3      Airport
 + 4       3      Seaport

LD = Low Density
MD = Medium Density
HD = High Density
LLV = Low Land Value
MLV = Medium Land Value
HLV = High Land Value
LMHV = Low/Medium Land Value
MHLV = Medium/High Land Value
Res = Residential
Com = Commercial
Ind = Industrial

"...And then you do the time!"

Police coverage, like crime, is a parameter that is calculated per tile. The police coverage value represents how effectively the police prevent crime and catch criminals. The police coverage value is subtracted from the crime value for each tile. If the result is 0 or less, then all of the potential crimes have been prevented due to police presence. If the result is greater than zero, then some crimes still occur. The police effectiveness then determines how many arrests are made for these crimes.

The simulation updates the police coverage map every 30 days.

With optimal funding (100%), the radius of effect of a police station is 30 tiles. The police coverage is 80 at the station itself, and falls off linearly to 20 at the fringe of the coverage radius. Funding above or below 100% will respectively increase or decrease the coverage radius and increase or decrease the police coverage values within this radius.

Upkeep of a police station at 100% funding is 30 simoleans per month.

A police station at 100% funding has the optimum average number of arrests per tile. If the actual number of arrests is more than 210% of the optimum number, then the police are oppressive. This can occur with police funding greater than 100%, and/or if police stations are located such that their coverage zones overlap heavily.

The maximum possible police efficiency due to over-funding is 120%.

If there are no jails, police effectiveness is only 75%.

0.04 of all police arrests lead to a jail sentence.

0.018 of the criminal population is released from the jails every day.

Nominal jail capacity is 300 inmates, but they can be overcrowded to 120% (so 360 inmates).

Upkeep of a jail costs 30 simoleans per month.

Police can go on strike if funding is below 70% and the average crime in the city is greater than 20. When police are on strike their effectiveness is only 20%. A strike will not last longer than 800 days when no action is taken by the player.

When police are dispatched to a disaster, their effect extends for a radius of 4 tiles from the police icon. The effect of dispatched police is 200 per tile.

See also
Eliminating crime: a radical approach
Building police, fire, health, education & recreational buildings
Optimal positions for police and fire stations

Knowledge Tree
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