Abstract
This paper aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of drug-related police interventions and the neighborhood characteristics influencing these spatial patterns. To this end, police officers ranked each census block group in Valencia, Spain (N = 552), providing an index of drug-related police interventions. Data from the City Statistics Office and observational variables were used to analyze neighborhood characteristics. Distance to the police station was used as the control variable. A Bayesian ecological analysis was performed with a spatial beta regression model. Results indicated that high physical decay, low socioeconomic status, and high immigrant concentration were associated with high levels of drug-related police interventions after adjustment for distance to the police station. Results illustrate the importance of a spatial approach to understanding crime.
Highlights
The association between crime and place is one of the long-standing topics in the study of crime
This paper aimed to analyze the spatial distribution of drug-related police interventions and the neighborhood characteristics influencing these spatial patterns
Results indicated that high physical decay, low socioeconomic status, and high immigrant concentration were associated with high levels of drug-related police interventions after adjustment for distance to the police station
Summary
The association between crime and place is one of the long-standing topics in the study of crime. From a social disorganization framework, neighborhoods characterized by poverty, ethnic heterogeneity, and residential instability are expected to have higher crime rates [1,2,3]. From this perspective, crime is not randomly distributed in the city; rather, people living in poor and deteriorated neighborhoods are more likely to be the victims of crime [2,4]. Studies based on the social disorganization perspective have largely shown the association of neighborhood concentrated disadvantage, immigration, and residential instability with crime and violence. Studies have found that low residential stability would be related to crime, and neighborhoods with more stable populations should have lower crime rates than those characterized by transitory and changing neighbors [3,11]
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