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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for high crime areas
17 results foundAuthor: Muntingh, Lukas Title: Child Justice Alliance: A Quantitative Overview of Children in the Criminal Justice System: 2007 Summary: This report provides an overview of the available quantitative data on children in the juvenile justice system in South Africa, and also identifies where data is lacking or incomplete. It includes the following sections: children in detention; duration of detention; children coming into contact with the juvenile justice system; existence of a juvenile justice system; separation from adults; conditions for control of quality of services for children in detention; and protection from torture, violence, abuse and exploitation. Details: Bellville, South Africa: Child Justice Alliance, 2007. 36p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2007 Country: South Africa URL: Shelf Number: 110569 Keywords: Crime DisplacementHigh Crime AreasHot-Spots PolicingJuvenile DetentionJuvenile Justice Systems (South Africa)Juvenile Offenders (South Africa)Police PatrolProblem-Oriented Policing |
Author: Burgess, Melissa Title: Understanding Crime Hotspot Maps Summary: The distribution of crime across a region is not random. A number of factors influence where crime occurs, including the physical and social characteristics of the place and the people using the place. Crime mapping can show us where the high crime areas are and help to provide an understanding of the factors that affect the distribution and frequency of crime. This knowledge can help improve crime prevention policies and programs. For example, it can help us to anticipate at-risk places, times and people; direct law enforcement resources; allocate victim services; design the most suitable crime prevention strategies; and so forth. This brief provides a description of how the Bureau’s Local Government Area crime hotspot maps are produced and how they should be interpreted. Details: Sydney: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, 2011. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Issues Paper No. 60: Accessed May 16, 2011 at: http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/bb60.pdf/$file/bb60.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://www.bocsar.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/bocsar/ll_bocsar.nsf/vwFiles/bb60.pdf/$file/bb60.pdf Shelf Number: 121722 Keywords: Crime AnalysisCrime HotspotsCrime MappingHigh Crime Areas |
Author: Winokur. Kristin Parsons Title: Targeting Delinquency Prevention Services to High-Risk Youth and Neighborhoods: An Assessment of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Prevention and Victim Services' Geo-Mapping Techniques Summary: The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) is required by statute to administer prevention and intervention services to at-risk youths and their families. At approximately $62 million in fiscal year 2001-02, funding for prevention programs accounts for less than ten percent of the more than $619 million allocated to DJJ annually. In order to make efficient use of limited resources in the face of increasing needs for service, the DJJ Prevention and Victim Services branch (hereafter referred to generally as DJJ) developed a prevention strategy to: Target youth who are at highest risk for engaging in criminal behavior. Locate resources in communities with the greatest risk factors. Employ research-based prevention methods. Prevention program allocation in Florida is therefore a two-pronged approach to identify (a) youth and (b) communities with the greatest risk factors and needs for service. The DJJ relies upon the research literature to inform the process of identifying at-risk youth. Prevention and Victim Services, with the assistance of DJJ research staff, then utilize geo-mapping technology to identify and map neighborhoods where large concentrations of high-risk delinquents reside. These "high-risk" communities are mapped by zip code boundaries. Prevention program providers can then identify the areas that are most in need of services. This targeting approach has been in place for the last three years and the Department has asked that an outside evaluator, The Justice Research Center (JRC), assess its validity. This report presents the findings of the evaluation and covers only contracted general revenue and state grant funded prevention programs. Details: Tallahassee, FL: Justice Research Center and Deptartment of Juvenile Justice, 2004. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 15, 2011 at: http://www.thejrc.com/docs/DJJ%20Zip%20Code%20Final%20Report%20PDF.pdf Year: 2004 Country: United States URL: http://www.thejrc.com/docs/DJJ%20Zip%20Code%20Final%20Report%20PDF.pdf Shelf Number: 122385 Keywords: Crime AnalysisCrime MappingGeographic ProfilingHigh Crime AreasJuvenile Delinquency Prevention (Florida)Juvenile Offenders |
Author: Weisburd, David Title: Understanding Developmental Crime Trajectories at Places: Social Disorganization and Opportunity Perspectives at Micro Units of Geography Summary: Individuals and communities have traditionally been the focus of criminological research, but recently criminologists have begun to explore the importance of “micro” places (e.g. addresses, street segments, and clusters of street segments) in understanding and controlling crime. Recent research provides strong evidence that crime is strongly clustered at hot spots and that there are important developmental trends of crime at place, but little is known about the geographic distribution of these patterns or the specific correlates of crime at this micro level of geography. We report here on a large empirical study that sought to address these gaps in our knowledge of the “criminology of place.” Linking 16 years of official crime data on street segments (a street block between two intersections) in Seattle, Washington to a series of data sets examining social and physical characteristics of micro places over time, we examine not only the geography of developmental patterns of crime at place but also the specific factors that are related to different trajectories of crime. We use two key criminological perspectives, social disorganization theories and opportunity theories, to inform our identification of risk factors in our study and then contrast the impacts of these perspectives in the context of multivariate statistical models. Our first major research question concerns whether social disorganization and opportunity measures vary across micro units of geography, and whether they are clustered, like crime, into “hot spots.” Study variables reflecting social disorganization include property value, housing assistance, race, voting behavior, unsupervised teens, physical disorder, and urbanization. Measures representing opportunity theories include the location of public facilities, street lighting, public transportation, street networks, land use, and business sales. We find strong clustering of such traits into social disorganization and opportunity “hot spots,” as well as significant spatial heterogeneity. We use group-based trajectory modeling to identify eight broad developmental patterns across street segments in Seattle. Our findings in this regard follow an earlier NIJ study that identified distinct developmental trends (e.g. high increasing and high decreasing patterns) while noting the overall stability of crime trends for the majority of street segments in Seattle. We go beyond the prior study by carefully examining the geography of the developmental crime patterns observed. We find evidence of strong heterogeneity of trajectory patterns at street segments with, for example, the presence of chronic trajectory street segments throughout the city. There is also strong street to street variability in crime patterns, though there is some clustering of trajectory patterns in specific areas. Our findings suggest that area trends influence micro level trends (suggesting the relevance of community level theories of crime). Nonetheless, they also show that the bulk of variability at the micro place level is not explained by trends at larger geographic levels. In identifying risk factors related to developmental trajectories, we find confirmation of both social disorganization and opportunity theories. Overall, street segments evidencing higher social disorganization are also found to have higher levels of crime. For many social disorganization measures increasing trends of social disorganization over time were associated with increasing trajectory patterns of crime. Similarly, in the case of opportunity measures related to motivated offenders, suitable crime targets, and their accessibility, we find that greater opportunities for crime are found at street segments in higher rate trajectory patterns. Finally, we use multinomial logistic regression to simultaneously examine opportunity and social disorganization factors and their influence on trajectory patterns. The most important finding here is that both perspectives have considerable salience in understanding crime at place, and together they allow us to develop a very strong level of prediction of crime. Our work suggests it is time to consider an approach to the crime problem that begins not with the people who commit crime but with the micro places where crimes are committed. This is not the geographic units of communities or police beats that have generally been the focus of crime prevention, but it is a unit of analysis that is key to understanding crime and its development. Details: Final report to the U.S. National Institute of Justice, 2009. 379p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 5, 2011 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236057.pdf Year: 2009 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236057.pdf Shelf Number: 122991 Keywords: Crime AnalysisCrime Hot SpotsCrime LocationsCrime MappingGeographic StudiesHigh Crime Areas |
Author: Weisburd, David L. Title: Hot Spots of Juvenile Crime: Findings From Seattle Summary: This bulletin summarizes the results of a study that reviewed the distribution of juvenile crime in Seattle. The researchers geographically mapped the crime incidents in which a juvenile was arrested to identify the rates and hot spots of juvenile crime in the city. Key findings include the following: • Fifty percent of all juvenile crime incidents occurred at less than 1 percent of street segments—an area that includes the addresses on both sides of a street between two intersections. All juvenile crime incidents occurred at less than 5 percent of street segments. • Juvenile crime was concentrated in public and commercial areas where youth gather—schools, youth centers, shops, malls, and restaurants—rather than residential areas.• Crime rates often vary from one street segment to the next, suggesting that police efforts targeting these hot spots can reduce crime. • Many juvenile crime hot spots coincide with areas where youth congregate, which indicates that closer supervision of these public places, in the form of place managers or patrols, may help lower juvenile crime rates in those areas. Details: Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 2011. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Juvenile Justice Bulletin: Accessed October 18, 2011 at: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/231575.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United States URL: https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/231575.pdf Shelf Number: 123048 Keywords: Crime AnalysisCrime Hot SpotsGeographic StudiesHigh Crime AreasJuvenile CrimeJuvenile Offenders (Seattle) |
Author: Curman, Andrea S. Nemeth Title: Crime and Place: A Longitudinal Examination of Street Segment Patterns in Vancouver, B.C. Summary: The study of crime and place recognizes the important interplay between the physical landscape and criminal activity. In doing so, research in this area has shown substantial concentrations of crime amongst micro geographic units, such as street blocks. Despite these revelations, little research has examined whether such criminal concentrations persist over time. The developmental trajectory of criminal activity on street blocks was originally studied in Seattle, Washington. This dissertation replicates that seminal study by examining crime volumes on the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia, over a 16 year period using a group-based trajectory model (GBTM). Going further, this research also applies a non-parametric technique, termed k-means to address various limitations inherent to the GBTM method. The major findings reveal the majority of street blocks in Vancouver evidence stable crime levels, with a minority of street blocks throughout the city showing decreasing crime trajectories over the 16 year period. Both statistical techniques found comparable patterns of crime throughout Vancouver. A geographic analysis of the identified crime trajectories revealed linear concentrations of high, medium and low decreasing trajectories throughout the city, with the high decreasing street blocks showing particularly visible concentrations in the northeast part of Vancouver. Overall, the results confirm the original conclusions from the Seattle study in that many street blocks evidence significant developmental trajectories of crime and that the application of trajectory analysis to crime at micro places is a strategically useful way to examine the longevity of crime clusters. The results did not support the existence or stability of bad areas, but did find 'bad streets'. It is recommended that police and public safety practitioners pay close attention to the varying levels of criminal activity on street blocks when developing place-based crime prevention initiatives. Details: Burnaby, BC: Simon Fraser University, 2012. 180p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed June 26, 2014 at: summit.sfu.ca Year: 2012 Country: Canada URL: summit.sfu.ca Shelf Number: 132560 Keywords: Crime AnalysisCrime PatternsCrime PreventionGeographical AnalysisHigh Crime AreasHot-SpotsPlace-BasedStreet Crime |
Author: Uittenbogaard, Adriaan Cornelis Title: Clusters of Urban Crime and Safety in Transport Nodes Summary: The objective of the thesis is to provide a better understanding of the safety conditions in urban environments, particularly related to those found in transport nodes, in this case, underground stations, and surrounding areas1. First, the study starts with an analysis of the overall city, identifying concentrations of crime in the urban fabric and then focusing on the criminogenic conditions at and around underground stations. The analysis combines the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), statistical techniques and data of different types and sources. Regression models were used to assess the importance of the environmental attributes of underground stations on crime rates. Findings show that violent and property crimes show different hotspots at different times. Crime patterns tend to follow people�s scheduled patterns of routine activity. The socio-economic composition of the surrounding environment of the stations has a significant impact on crime at these transport nodes, but more important were attributes of the physical and social environment at the stations. For instance, low guardianship and poor visibility at the stations together with mixed land-uses in the surrounding areas induced crime rates at the stations. It is therefore suggested that intervention to improve safety conditions at the stations should focus on a holistic approach, taking into account the station and surrounding areas, but also being aware of crime variation on specific places at specific times. Details: Stockholm: KTH Royal Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and the Build Environment, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management 2013. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 1, 2015 at: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:603657/FULLTEXT02 Year: 2013 Country: Sweden URL: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:603657/FULLTEXT02 Shelf Number: 135455 Keywords: Crime Analysis Crime Hotspots Geographical Information Systems (GIS) High Crime Areas Transit Crime Transportation Urban Areas and Crime (Sweden) |
Author: Quick, Matthew Title: Exploring crime in Toronto, Ontario with applications for law enforcement planning: Geographic analysis of hot spots and risk factors for expressive and acquisitive crimes Summary: This thesis explores crime hot spots and identifies risk factors of expressive and acquisitive crimes in Toronto, Ontario at the census tract scale using official crime offence data from 2006. Four research objectives motivate this thesis: 1) to understand a number of local spatial cluster detection tests and how they can be applied to inform law enforcement planning and confirmatory research, 2) explore spatial regression techniques and applications in past spatial studies of crime, 3) to examine the influence of social disorganization and non-residential land use on expressive crime at the census tract scale, and 4) integrate social disorganization and routine activity theories to understand the small-area risk factors of acquisitive crimes. Research chapters are thematically linked by an intent to recognize crime as a spatial phenomenon, provide insight into the processes and risk factors associated with crime, and inform efficient and effective law enforcement planning. Details: Waterloo, ONT: University of Waterloo, 2013. 136p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed January 11, 2016 at: https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/7331/Quick_Matthew.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2013 Country: Canada URL: https://uwspace.uwaterloo.ca/bitstream/handle/10012/7331/Quick_Matthew.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 137465 Keywords: Acquisitive Crimes Crime Analysis Crime Hotspots Crime Mapping High Crime Areas |
Author: National Crime Prevention Centre (Canada) Title: The Achievers: Politive Alternatives to Youth Gangs (PAYG) Summary: Toronto's Jane-Finch community suffers from one of the highest violent crime rates in the province of Ontario and is widely acknowledged as one of the most socially and economically disadvantaged communities in Canada. It is believed that the Jane-Finch community has the highest concentration of youth gangs in Canada, with well-known gangs such as the Bloods and Crips. Researchers from the University of Toronto and officials from the City of Toronto have developed the Youth Crime Risk Index, a tool to identify neighbourhoods with a high risk of youth gang activity. The index demonstrates that Jane-Finch has the highest risk score in Toronto. This indicates that the community suffers from high crime rates, socio-economic disadvantage, and residents have limited access to community programs for youth. Given all of these risk factors, youth who grow up in this community are especially vulnerable to gang membership. In 1999, there were a few local programs that dealt with gang members and gang-related issues, but no programs were available for middle-school youth. Details: Ottawa: Public Safety Canada, 2014. 7p. Source: Internet Resource: Evaluation Summaries ES-2014-40: Accessed march 14, 2016 at: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/payg/payg-eng.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Canada URL: https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/rsrcs/pblctns/payg/payg-eng.pdf Shelf Number: 138221 Keywords: At-Risk YouthGangsHigh Crime AreasNeighborhoods and CrimeSocioeconomic Conditions and CrimeUrban GangsYouth Gangs |
Author: Olaghere, Ajima Title: The Everyday Activities that Bind for Crime: investigating the Process of Routine Activities Theory at Specific Places Summary: This dissertation explores why and how crime events routinely occur at specific places in high crime areas, such as street blocks, addresses, street corners, and intersections. Specifically, this dissertation considers what human activities, behaviors, routines, and situations contribute to crime occurring at these places. Routine activities theory and environmental criminology suggest that crime is a process resulting from the convergence of the daily human routines of offenders, targets, and guardians (or lack thereof). Furthermore, these opportunities for crime are sustained, enhanced, or limited based on surrounding physical and environmental features of where crimes occur. Many scholars have attempted to test the salience o f these theories using spatial data analysis, quantitative data analysis, and comp uter simulation modeling (Bosse, Elffers, Gerritsen, 2010; Cahill, 2004; Groff, 2007 ; Groff, 2008; Lum, 2003). However, these methods often fall short because the process of the routines and their link to crime occurrence are not actually observed, but instead e stimated from administrative data and he use of statistical modeling. This dissertation attempts to improve our understanding about the link between routine activities, the envi ronment, and crime using systematic social observation (SSO) of archived closed circuit television (CCTV) footage of crime events in Baltimore City. This approach serves as t he best possible and safest approach to explore the salience of routine activities theory a nd environmental criminology, short of observing routines in real time that unfold into cr imes. Given time and resource constraints, I examined 100 crime events from a col lection of the Baltimore Police Department's (BPD) archived footage. Systematic obs ervations of each archived crime event were completed using a theoretically informed instrumentation on site at a CCTV monitoring station for six and half months, culmina ting in over 2,340 hours of data collection of 397 hours of actual footage. Qualitative and exploratory data analysis produced findings largely about the routines leading up to drug crime events, with some comparison to violent and property crime. Systematic patterns of behavior leading up t o crime were observed, and could be categorized into a number of common features. With respect to drug crimes, eight common features emerged that help explain the proce ss of drug crimes unfolding in high crime places. The features varied to the degree in which they emerged, some features having a higher likelihood of occurrence than other s. These findings, while exploratory, have implications for routine activities theory and crime pattern theory, and future research Details: Fairfax, VA: George Mason University, 2015. 223p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed August 3, 2016 at: http://digilib.gmu.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1920/9658/Olaghere_gmu_0883E_10882.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: Shelf Number: 139972 Keywords: Crime PatternsCrime PlacesEnvironmental CriminologyHigh Crime AreasRoutine Activities |
Author: Prairie Sky Consulting Title: North Central Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) Final Report Summary: The North Central Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) project is a partnership with the City of Regina, the North Central Community Society, the Public School Board, Regina Police Service, and North Central residents. The project funding is provided by the City, with volunteer services and in-kind services from the partners, and overseen by a steering committee. Prairie Sky Consulting coordinated the safety audits with volunteers, entered and analyzed the data, and compiled this report. CPTED - pronounced sep-ted - is a tool that deals with the design, planning and structure of cities and neighbourhoods. CPTED brings together local residents to examine how an area's physical features, such as lighting, trees and roadways, can influence crime and the opportunities for committing crime. It has been successfully applied in a number of Canadian cities and contexts. North Central, located northwest of the city's downtown, is home to 6% of Regina's population. Overall, the population tends to be younger than the rest of Regina. It is ethnically diverse, with 35% aboriginal. The housing consists of older homes, most built in the first half of the 20th century. Property values are the lowest in the city. About half the residents are renters. Although the area is sometimes singled for crime and social problems, some residents feel it is unfairly stigmatized. Many speak with pride about the neighbourhood they call home. The project collected data in two ways. Safety audits, designed much like surveys, provided quantitative data for streets, parks and alleys. These were completed by about 40 residents - a thorough mix by age, gender and ethnicity - who volunteered for the CPTED process. Additional data was included from focus group discussions with the auditors, data on service calls to the City, and Regina Police Service statistics on "hot spots" in the area. The audits are a snapshot of people's impressions, at a specific date and time, of a certain street, alley or park. What they see and record can vary between auditors and may differ from the experiences of residents who live on a street or next to a particular park. Details: Calgary: Prairie Sky Consulting, 2004. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 15, 2016 at: http://www.regina.ca/opencms/export/sites/regina.ca/residents/social-grants-programs/.media/pdf/north_central_cpted_project_report.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Canada URL: http://www.regina.ca/opencms/export/sites/regina.ca/residents/social-grants-programs/.media/pdf/north_central_cpted_project_report.pdf Shelf Number: 140761 Keywords: CPTEDCrime HotspotsCrime PreventionDesign Against CrimeHigh Crime AreasNeighborhoods and Crime |
Author: Heim, Krista Title: Visualization and Modeling for Crime Data Indexed by Road Segments Summary: This research develops crime hotspot analysis and visualization methodology that use street segments as the basic study unit. This incorporates the distance between points along a polyline rather than the standard Euclidean distance and has some distinct advantages over past methods. For each crime, this method creates a weight according to its distance from each road segment of its surrounding block. To create the hotspot visualization map, crime counts are smoothed over road segments based on the distance to nearest segments and the angle at which nearest roads meet at intersections. Crime data from the City of Alexandria, VA Police Department and San Francisco, CA (available at data.sfgov.org) are considered here using a combination of conventional ArcGIS and R graphics. I assume that demographic variables related to crime in large areas are still relevant to crime rates at the local level and seek to make use of the most spatially detailed data accessible. Decennial demographic variables at the block level for 2010 from the U.S. Census are associated with road segments by assigning the available values to the surrounding segments of each block. These variables include age, gender, population, and housing for both locations. Variables also considered are police calls for service, housing prices, elevation and speed limits. I discuss/compare area crime counts with polyline crime counts using (zero-inflated) Poisson and Negative Binomial regression with crime-related covariates, as well as MCMC Poisson-Gamma Conditional Autoregressive (CAR) model in CrimeStat IV and a localized CAR model in R using distances between segments as weights. Conditional variable importance is measured using conditional random forest modeling to see which of the covariates are the most important predictors of crime and to decide which variables are the most appropriate to consider for visualization. Principal components are also used to create independent linear combinations of predictor variables. While most visualization approaches for street segments have emphasized one variable at a time, this research uses a 3 x 3 grid of maps using DPnet to highlight each grouping of road segments associated with classes based on two covariates. This multivariate visualization will allow us to explore multiple variables at a time and their patterns along a road network. Details: Fairfax, VA: George Mason University, 2014. 164p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed December 20, 2016 at: http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/8991/Heim_gmu_0883E_10696.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/8991/Heim_gmu_0883E_10696.pdf?sequence=1 Shelf Number: 147789 Keywords: Crime AnalysisCrime HotspotsGeographic Analysis Geographic Studies High Crime Areas |
Author: Iqbal, Asifa Title: Assessment of crime and safety issues in parks Summary: The aim of the thesis is to obtain a better understanding of the importance of parks for urban quality, particularly for safety. This is achieved in two ways; first, by assessing parks' impact on the perceived quality of the urban environment (whether it is incorporated into housing prices or not) in Stockholm. Second, the study investigates whether safety in parks may be assessed using principles of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) using a high-crime park in Stockholm's inner city. The thesis starts with an introduction to the theme, with a brief discussion of background theory, literature review, the study area and the methods. Then, it reports the results of the articles included in the thesis and discusses their main contributions to the field of research. A mixed methods approach utilizes both quantitative and qualitative data analysis. Regression models and a Geographic Information System (GIS) were used in Paper I, which aims to clarify how park proximity affects housing prices and, when considering residential properties and park type, how crime rates in parks affect housing prices. Findings show that the further away an apartment is located from a park, the higher the discount on its price effect, but this effect (dependent on the park type), as an accumulated measure of parks, lowers prices or is negligible. Paper II assesses the use and adequacy of CPTED principles to guide the assessment of safety conditions of an urban park. The historical development of CPTED is presented followed by an analysis of a case study, Tantolunden, in Stockholm. Site observations, crime mapping, people count and interviews were conducted. Results show many entrances in this particular park defy the principles of access control and in turn impose limitations on park maintenance. Findings also show that interrupted sight lines create limited surveillance. The paper concludes by identifying the potentialities and challenges of CPTED principles when applied to safety in parks. Findings presented in this thesis are relevant for many stakeholders in society as results show the variation in crime and safety in urban parks, and the way they can be assessed and tackled. Details: Stockholm: Royal Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and the Built Environment, Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, 2015. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2017 at: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:861815/FULLTEXT04 Year: 2015 Country: Sweden URL: http://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:861815/FULLTEXT04 Shelf Number: 146422 Keywords: Crime MappingCrime Prevention Through Environmental DesignDesign Against CrimeGeographic Information System (GIS)High Crime AreasParksUrban Areas |
Author: Antoine, Brionne Title: The Rise and Fall of Hotspots of Homicide in the Port-of-Spain Division: Changes over Time in the Characteristics of Murder Summary: Homicides are a threat to citizen security and public safety in Trinidad and Tobago. Hotspot policing has been recognized for its crime reducing capabilities in micro-places where crime is concentrated. The Port-of-Spain is the highest contributor to the national homicide total in recent years. Thus, examining the changes in the characteristics of homicides and hotspots when more patrols dosage was applied can provide significant on homicide patterns as well as the relationship between increased patrol time in hotspots and changes in homicide over time This study aims to examine the changes in homicides and hotspots in the Port-of-Spain Division in Trinidad during a period in which police patrols were targeting identified hot spots of homicide. A descriptive analysis was conducted over a two year period, from June 2014 to June 2016. Changes in the demographic and situational characteristics were examined with quantitative methods. Regression models and qualitative information were utilized to evaluate the relationship between increased hotspot patrol dosage and declines in homicides. Spatial analyses were used to measure crime displacement and emergence of new homicide hotspots. Increased patrol time in hotspots was found to be a predictor of decreases in homicides in the low homicide period but not in the high homicide period. Most homicide incidents were committed with guns, were gang-related and were perpetrated against males. Notable differences were seen in time frame and day of week. Findings did not support diffusion of crime control benefits but there were indications of crime displacement and emergence of one new homicide hotspot. These findings have direct implications for the patrol theory of deterrence and patrol resource management in the Port-of-Spain Division and the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service. Effective management of patrol resources and improved knowledge of the changes in patterns of homicides by police officers can boost the deterrent effect of hotspot patrols and reduce homicides. Details: Cambridge, UK: Wolfson College, 2016. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed April 5, 2017 at: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/alumni/theses/Brionne%20Antoine.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Trinidad and Tobago URL: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/alumni/theses/Brionne%20Antoine.pdf Shelf Number: 144710 Keywords: Crime Analysis Crime Hotspots High Crime AreasHomicides Murders |
Author: de Brito, Charlotte Title: Will Providing Tracking Feedback on Hot Spot Patrols Affect the Amount of Patrol Dosage Delivered? A Level 4 Experiment Summary: Objectives Hot spots patrol is a police tactic shown time and time again to reduce crime, with a robust body of supporting evidence suggested. Less widely researched is how to ensure the police tasked with carrying out these patrols do as they have been asked. In this thesis, research will be presented which seeks to bridge this gap. Methods In a before-after experiment carried out over 4 weeks in August 2016 within British Transport Police (BTP), two sites assigned to treatment conditions (London Waterloo and London Euston) were provided feedback on dosage delivery - i.e., weekly reports showing the number of "hot spots visits" carried out the previous week by the PCs and PCSOs assigned to hot spot patrol. Two sites assigned to control conditions received no such information, but were still required to conduct hot spots patrols as business as usual. Results No overall statistically significant differences in terms of patrol dosage between the two treatment and two control sites were found, indicating that feedback in the form of a set of figures and graphs on the previous weeks' performance sent via email does not increase dosage. However, when the 2 treatment sites were analysed separately, substantial increases were found in patrol dosage at London Waterloo but no discernible effect at London Euston, compared to control conditions. These subgroup analyses are likely to be driven by varying leadership styles in the two treatment sites. Conclusions Patrol dosage feedback can be positively correlated with patrol dosage, however only when the leader responsible for those individuals is willing to act. In this experiment, there was no adverse consequence for poor patrol performance in the treatment sites, hence the threat can be deemed 'toothless'. Onus cannot be left on individuals to react to and improve on poor performance, and a feedback loop must be put in place to allow corrective action to be taken if an individual consistently fails to improve. Further research is recommended, testing treatment conditions which include an adverse consequence of poor performance, with a larger number of experimental sites. Details: Cambridge, UK: Fitzwilliam College, 2016. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed April 10, 2017 at: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/alumni/theses/Charlotte%20de%20Brito.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.crim.cam.ac.uk/alumni/theses/Charlotte%20de%20Brito.pdf Shelf Number: 144773 Keywords: Crime AnalysisCrime HotspotsHigh Crime AreasHotspotsPolice Patrol |
Author: Wu, Xiaoyun Title: Do Police Go to Places with More Crime? A Spatial and Temporal Examination of Police Proactivity Summary: Over the last four decades, research has shown that police officers can reduce and prevent crime when they employ proactive, problem-solving, and place-based strategies. However, whether this research has translated into daily police activity is seldom examined. Are police being proactive when not answering calls for service? Do they target that proactivity in places that need it the most? Using calls for service data in a progressive police agency, the authors examine both the spatial and temporal relationship between proactive activity by officers and concentrations of crime using multiple methods, including Andresen's Spatial Point Pattern Test. Results suggest that police in Jacksonville are highly proactive, place-based, and micro-scaled in allocating their resource. They spent a large proportion of their resources conducting proactive work in accordance with the spatial distribution of crime, and they specifically concentrated significant proactive resources in the most crime-ridden areas, making the relationship an increasing curvilinear one between police proactive work and crime at places. More specifically, each crime at a micro place is related to around 40 additional minutes of police proactive work there, the figure of which becomes even higher at places with high enough crime. Details: Fairfax, VA: George Mason University, 2014. 76p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed April 12, 2017 at: http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/10502/Wu_thesis_2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2014 Country: United States URL: http://digilib.gmu.edu/jspui/bitstream/handle/1920/10502/Wu_thesis_2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 144818 Keywords: Crime and PlaceCrime HotspotsHigh Crime AreasPolice Effectiveness |
Author: Bowers, Kate J. Title: Spatial displacement and diffusion of benefits among geographically focused policing initiatives Summary: What happens to surrounding neighborhoods when more police are put in high crime areas? Do criminals just move to nearby neighborhoods or do the crime-fighting benefits spread? A systematic review of international research finds that increasing police presence in problem areas not only reduces crime in those areas, but can also lead to less crime in nearby areas. A common criticism of focused policing efforts (such as hotspots policing, 'crackdowns', or problem-oriented policing) is that it does not address the root causes of crime; criminals just move to another neighborhood. This is known as 'crime displacement'. Criminal activity can in fact shift in a number of different ways. It can move from one neighborhood to another, the time of day crime occurs can change, different targets may be chosen, how the crime is commited may change (e.g. breaking windows versus picking locks). There can be changes in the type of offences committed and in the people engaging in crime (new offenders replace old). In theory, these kinds of changes in criminal activity can cancel out the benefits of increased police efforts in problem areas. It has also been argued, however, that increasing police presence in one area can have positive effects for nearby areas. There can be a 'bonus effect' of a reduction in crime in nearby neighborhoods. It is important to consider both negative and positive side effects of focused policing when deciding on policing strategies. This review includes 44 studies. The majority of the studies are from the USA (30) but studies from the United Kingdom (10) Sweden (3) and Australia (1) are also included. Each study evaluates a focused policing intervention which was limited to a physical area (smaller than a city/region), uses some quantitative measure of crime, and reports original research findings. The studies evaluate a broad range of interventions implemented in different contexts, including Problem-Orientated Policing (12), Police Crackdowns (10), Police Patrols (7), Community-oriented policing (5) and Hotspot policing (4). This review focuses on two primary outcomes: the effect of focused policing on crime levels in the target neighborhood; and the effect of focused policing on nearby neighborhoods. A meta-analysis of sixteen studies to examine the effect on the target neighborhood shows that focused policing reduces crime in the target neighborhood. The evidence also indicates that when focused policing is implemented, crime levels change in nearby areas more than would be expected if there was no focused policing in the target neighbourhood. The weight of the evidence shows that crime is reduced in these areas. This suggests that focused policing is more likely to result in a spread of crime control benefit than simply moving criminals to the closest neighbourhood. Details: Oslo: Campbell Collaboration, 2011. 147p. Source: Internet Resource: Campbell Systematic Reviews, 2011:3: Accessed March 19, 2018 at: https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/library/geographically-focused-policing.html Year: 2011 Country: International URL: https://www.campbellcollaboration.org/library/geographically-focused-policing.html Shelf Number: 149524 Keywords: Crime DisplacementFocused PolicingHigh Crime AreasHotspots of CrimePolice CrackdownsProblem-Oriented Policing |