Spatial Analysis of Fear of Crime and Police Calls for Service: An Example and Implications for Community Policing

Abstract

Individuals’ fear of crime exhibits a complex spatial relationship with not just actual crime incidents , but a mix of actual crime, perceptions of crime, neighborhood disorder , and collective efficacy . If people have a high fear of crime, they may be more likely to report suspicious or criminal activities to the police . The fear of crime individuals maintain is most often directly linked to the fear of violent crime ; however, a spatially explicit examination of the impact of violent crime calls for service to police officers, neighborhood disorder and collective efficacy on the fear of crime is still needed. In the current study, we examine the relationship among all of these factors using measures of spatial correlation and spatial regression . While the reactive policing strategy of responding to calls for service is more cost-effective than community policing , targeted proactive strategies might be more useful for long-term crime prevention . Our findings illustrate the potential of spatial analysis in informing policing strategies, by highlighting variation in the spatial relationships between fear of crime, violent crime incidents, collective efficacy, and neighborhood disorder. Using the results of this type of analysis can lead to a better use of police resources to avert crime.