Abstract
The paper describes the method and the basic results of research into data on criminal activities in Vilnius city. Approximately 100000 incidents registered by police in both 2010 and 2011 have been located and geocoded using their street address information. Analysis of territorial distribution of the incidents in general and of themost common types (assaults, robberies and thefts, motor vehicle thefts and minor offences) in two years reveals that there exist higher concentration areas for all types of crimes. Over one year such areas grew but generally retained their shape and location. The density of incidents is generally dependent on population density, but also tends to concentrate around some shopping centres and entertainment areas. Kernel density spatial analysis method produces visually expressive results and should be applied for fast visual analysis and comparison of data.
Highlights
Distribution and concentration of crimes and delinquency have always been important in understanding city life
More intense research into geography of crimes began in the second half of the 20th century as computers and GIS technology allowed processing large volumes of geographic data and efficient visualizations of the results (Maltz et al 2000)
The main purpose of the research on crime and delinquency distribution conducted in Vilnius University in 2009–2012 is to reveal the spatial pattern of overall distribution in Vilnius City and distribution of different types of offences
Summary
Distribution and concentration of crimes and delinquency have always been important in understanding city life. Geographic approach has been successfully applied since early 20th century in the U.S when first (non-digital) crime distribution maps were made. More intense research into geography of crimes began in the second half of the 20th century as computers and GIS technology allowed processing large volumes of geographic data and efficient visualizations of the results (Maltz et al 2000). The main purpose of the research on crime and delinquency distribution conducted in Vilnius University in 2009–2012 is to reveal the spatial pattern of overall distribution in Vilnius City and distribution of different types of offences. We did not have initial hypothesis about the location and number of highest concentration areas, though it had been anticipated that they would match neither the pattern with crime rates spatially dispersing from the city centre outward nor the opposite
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