Geography Of Crime Research Articles

Spatiotemporal Analysis of Nighttime Crimes in Vienna, Austria

Studying the spatiotemporal dynamics of crime is crucial for accurate crime geography research. While studies have examined crime patterns related to weekdays, seasons, and specific events, there is a noticeable gap in research on nighttime crimes. This study focuses on crimes occurring during the nighttime, investigating the temporal definition of nighttime crime and the correlation between nighttime lights and criminal activities. The study concentrates on four types of nighttime crimes, assault, theft, burglary, and robbery, conducting univariate and multivariate analyses. In the univariate analysis, correlations between nighttime crimes and nighttime light (NTL) values detected in satellite images and between streetlight density and nighttime crimes are explored. The results highlight that nighttime burglary strongly relates to NTL and streetlight density. The multivariate analysis delves into the relationships between each nighttime crime type and socioeconomic and urban infrastructure variables. Once again, nighttime burglary exhibits the highest correlation. For both univariate and multivariate regression models the geographically weighted regression (GWR) outperforms ordinary least squares (OLS) regression in explaining the relationships. This study underscores the importance of considering the location and offense time in crime geography research and emphasizes the potential of using NTL in nighttime crime analysis.

New geographies of crime? Cybercrime, southern criminology and diversifying research agendas

This paper argues that reconsidering the disciplinary significance of the geographies of crime is timely. It has three aims. First, it identifies recent developments in the geographical study of crime, arguing that they both challenge and extend its intellectual traditions. Second, using the example of cybercrime, it identifies new forms of crime that deserve scrutiny by geographers. Third, it draws on ideas of Southern criminology to identify how research agendas can be diversified to advance how geographers study crime. In doing so it proposes that geographers’ renewed interest in crime over recent decades is appropriately labelled ‘new geographies of crime’.

Educational inequality or educational segregation? The determinants of criminal activities in 288 Chinese cities

The relationships between inequality and crime and segregation and crime are classic topics in crime geography. However, the effects of city-level inequality and segregation based on an individual's socioeconomic status on crime in a racially homogeneous country such as China remain largely unexplored. Using novel location-based service population big data, criminal judgment records, and a nationally representative survey, we measure the degree of educational inequality and educational segregation in 288 Chinese cities and then simultaneously examine their effects on theft and violent crime rates. The results suggest that inequality and segregation are two distinct constructs that reflect social polarization, as evidenced by their different spatial distribution patterns and low correlations. Both educational inequality and educational segregation have significant and positive effects on the incidence of theft and violence at the city level. These relationships remain robust to introducing instrumental variables to address the endogeneity issue. Considering these findings, it is imperative to take a multi-sectoral and coordinated approach to reducing inequality and segregation and, ultimately, deterring crime. By understanding and acting upon these factors, policymakers can work toward promoting a safer and more equitable society across China.

São Paulo's Crackland as Urban Impasse: An Ethnographic Account of Mobility, Territory and Viracao as Form of Nomadism

AbstractDrugs feature in the geography of crime as an economy and as a threat to social order and public health. Spatial and social strategies of crime reduction ascribe agency to the state and to regulated residents of marginalised urban areas. Geographers also discussed anti‐drug policy have a revanchist neoliberal governance. Through the lens of urban territory and urban nomads in the crack‐cocaine‐dominated area Crackland in the centre of São Paulo, we argue that instead of a fixity of homelessness, drug markets and drug users in the geography of crime, one could pay more attention to nomadism, which can be found ethnographically in the journeys of three agents which we discuss. For over 20 years, city authorities have tried to ‘end’ Crackland with social programmes and police actions, or codifying attempts of territorialisation. An urban impasse emerged as these programmes failed to recognise Crackland as mobile territory of viracao. Crackland remains a zone reserved for the city's ‘human waste’ while perfectly integrated in the urban fabric.

Exploring the Spatial Relationship between Street Crime Events and the Distribution of Urban Greenspace: The Case of Porto, Portugal

In post-pandemic, climate-changing societies, the presence of urban greenspace assumes paramount functions, at the same time that socio-economic crises and shocks augment vulnerabilities and insecurities. The recent literature on environmental criminology argues that the geography of crime is not random, and that the presence of greenery, due to its impact on well-being and the environment, can have positive associations with feeling safe; although the opposite effect can occur if spaces are not properly designed or maintained. In this paper, the case study of Porto, Portugal, is presented; one of the municipalities with higher crime rates, that also pledged to double the available greenspace in the near future. As a way to support decision-making, the aim of this study was to present an overall exploratory diagnosis of how street crime patterns, of different typologies, spatially co-exist with greenspaces. Using a 10-year street crime dataset at the segment level, descriptive quantitative methods with the support of GIS have been applied to plot crime’s spatial distribution over time, as well as the walking accessibility to greenspaces. The results confirm crime’s geographical non-randomness, with distinct categories occupying specific locations, even though there was a consistently proportional distribution in the different distance bands. On the contrary, the cumulative effect of the proximity to greenspaces was variable. Almost half of the city’s street crimes (46%) were within a 5 min walking distance of greenspaces, but they were much closer to smaller inner-city urban gardens, with higher densities of street crimes (hot spots), than to larger municipal parks, where lower densities (cold spots) were seen.

Study of crimes in the city of Kokand using GIS technologies and sociological questionnaires

Formulation of the problem. It is known that the influence of the demographic, social and economic conditions of the region on criminal activity is significantly high. In this place, researching the types of crime characteristic of cities with different functions, and identifying hotspots where criminal activity has intensified within the city will further enrich the scientific and practical aspects of the geography of crime. The use of geographic information systems (hereinafter GIS) in the implementation of these tasks is an important issue on the agenda of the field today. Analysis of recent research and publications. Today, in most developed countries, GIS is widely used to identify common crime areas and organize preventive measures for crime prevention. Research in this regard is almost undeveloped in the Republic of Uzbekistan. Formulation of the purpose of the article. In this study, theft and drug-related crimes committed in the city of Kokand, Fergana region, were investigated using the Hot Spot analysis method of the Arc GIS (version 10.8) program. The problems of combating crime in identified theft and drug-related crime centres were studied with the help of sociological surveys (conducted with prevention inspectors) and an action plan for crime prevention was developed. Presentation of the main research material. The indicators of crime levels in the small administrative areas of Kokand, in the Fergana region, have been examined in this study. In addition to the types of crimes that are most commonly committed in large social infrastructures (for example, markets, parks, public places) and their specific characteristics, we also discussed the levels of these types of crimes according to age, gender and population size. Problems and prospects of the development of crime geography in Kokand city. Hotspot analysis consists of identifying hotbeds of crime in the area and developing proposals and recommendations based on this. Proposals and recommendations for reducing crime in the city of Kokand. First, this technology is effective in identifying crime trends, organizing preventive measures, planning crime prevention strategies, and improving public safety. Second, GIS is adapted for data processing, mapping, and spatial analysis, thereby increasing the effectiveness of crime analysis and quickly creating a quality criminal analysis map. Thirdly, according to the results of this technology, optimization of the distribution of law enforcement officers, proper and planned deployment, and development of more effective crime reduction measures will help.

Geography of crime against women in West Bengal, India: identifying spatio-temporal dynamics and hotspots

Geography of crime against women in West Bengal, India: identifying spatio-temporal dynamics and hotspots

Gender and the Geography of Crime in Nineteenth-Century Leiden and Amsterdam

This article builds on recent calls in urban and gender history for a better understanding of the interaction between gender and the urban environment. Its focus is on male and female offending behaviours and their relation to the urban space, specifically the spaces shared by women and men: the home, the street outside of their house, and the main thoroughfares. The article aims to shed light on common practices and understandings between men and women, while highlighting potential differences. The analysis is based on the mapping of offending behaviours recorded by Leiden police court and Amsterdam correctional court in the second half of the nineteenth century. In part, the article confirms what other historians have already shown: women were on average accused of committing an offence closer to their home than men, but they were also very much present in the streets around their house. But the data presented also shows that women and men were more or less mobile according to the time of day, that they shared a common understanding of what their neighbourhood represented, and that work was an important reason why women would commute outside of their neighbourhood. Overall, the article confirms the value of a nuanced view of gender and the use of the urban space.

Network-Based Space-Time Scan Statistics for Detecting Micro-Scale Hotspots

Events recorded in urban areas are often confined by the micro-scale geography of street networks, yet existing spatial–analytical methods do not usually account for the shortest-path distance of street networks. We propose space–time NetScan, a new spatial–temporal analytical method with improved accuracy for detecting patterns of concentrations across space and time. It extends the notion of a scan-statistic-type search window by measuring space-time patterns along street networks in order to detect micro-scale concentrations of events at the street-address level with high accuracy. Performance tests with synthetic data demonstrate that space-time NetScan outperforms existing methods in detecting the location, shape, size and duration of hotspots. An empirical study with drug-related incidents shows how space-time NetScan can improve our understanding of the micro-scale geography of crime. Aside from some abrupt one-off incidents, many hotspots form recurrent hotbeds, implying that drug-related crimes tend to persist in specific problem places.

Income inequality and the geography of residential burglaries: A spatial model applied to Campinas, Brazil

Although income inequality has been often pointed out as an important cause of crime, it is yet unclear how spatial patterns of income in a city can explain its geography of crime. In this study, we apply a model to test the influence of income inequality on the spatial concentration of residential burglaries in the city of Campinas, Brazil. Following criminological theory, our model decomposes income inequality into two hypothetical effects: that of local income, which determines how attractive residences are to burglary, and exposure to poverty, where poverty boosts criminal motivation through economic hardship. Our study reveals that higher local income is indeed significant and positively associated to higher burglary risk, but that exposure to poverty does not increase risk. Therefore, higher income areas more surrounded by poor areas do not feature a particularly increased burglary risk if compared to other higher income areas, contrary to what could be expected from some criminological frameworks such as relative deprivation and strain theories. Instead, our findings suggest that the geography of residential burglaries can be explained by the distribution of burglary opportunities, that is, of where the most profitable targets are. To conclude, we compare our findings to other existing studies.

Distribution of Criminal Incidents by Time and Place in Rural Bilecik Province (2010-2019)

Bilecik, Marmara Bölgesi’ni İç Anadolu ve Akdeniz’e bağlayan önemli bir kara ve demiryolu geçiş güzergâhında yer almaktadır. Bu özelliğinden dolayı, Bilecik kırsalında suç olaylarının zaman ve mekâna göre dağılışının bilinmesi çalışmanın temel amacını oluşturmaktadır. Bu sayede suçla etkin bir şekilde mücadele edilmesi de mümkün olacaktır. Çalışmanın materyalini, Bilecik İl Jandarma Komutanlığı sorumluluk alanında 2010-2019 yılları arasında meydana gelen suç istatistikleri oluşturmuştur. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yöntemlerinden “Doküman Analizi” kullanılmış olup, elde edilen veriler ArcGIS 10.2 programında değerlendirilerek haritalandırılmıştır. Çalışma sonucunda; Bilecik kırsalında türüne göre suçların mekânsal ve zamansal boyutta değişkenlik gösterdiği, İstanbul-Antalya karayolu boyunca uzanan yerleşmelerde suçların sıcak noktalar oluşturduğu, karayolu hatlarından uzaklaştıkça suç olayının azaldığı, bazı suçların sosyalleşmeden, bazılarının ise tenhalıktan beslendiği, dönemsel dinamik çalışmaların (YHT, HES inşaatları gibi) yarattığı suç fırsatları ve yabancılaşmanın özellikle malvarlığına karşı suç oluşumunu artırdığı, ülke ve dünya gündemi (terör ve Suriye İç Savaşı) ile yansımalarının da suç tespitlerine etki ettiği görülmüştür.

Examining the Geography of Illicit Massage Businesses Hosting Commercial Sex and Sex Trafficking in the United States: The Role of Census Tract and City-Level Factors

Despite extensive theory and research on the geography of crime, few studies have examined the geography of commercial sex and sex trafficking through a criminological lens. As such, this study explores how social disorganization and routine activities help explain the geography of commercial sex venues, specifically illicit massage businesses (IMBs) that host commercial sex. Because IMBs have also been linked to sex trafficking, understanding which environmental contexts are conducive to their presence may also help identify sex trafficking premises. Findings from hierarchical logistic regression models indicate that both theories point to significant correlates of IMB placement in census tracts and cities, yet neither theory provides a sufficient explanation alone. Implications for future research and policy will be discussed.

From Residential Neighborhood to Activity Space: The Effects of Educational Segregation on Crime and Their Moderation by Social Context

The segregation–crime relationship is a classic topic in sociology and crime geography, yet existing literature mainly focuses on the impact of racial segregation at the global scale. Little is known about the impact of local segregation of other socioeconomic characteristics such as education level, an important segregation factor for racially homogenous countries like China. Also unknown is their impact beyond the residential domain. Using the Baidu Map Location-Based Service population data set and court records in 863 local geographic units of the central urban area of Beijing during 2018 and 2019, this study uncovers the spatial pattern of segregation between people with and without a bachelor’s degree measured in the residential space and activity space and further investigates the influence of these two types of educational segregation and their interaction effects with social context on theft and violent crime. Results show less segregation in the activity space than in the residential space. Both types of segregation, however, significantly increase the risk of theft and violence, with activity space–based segregation more consequential. Moreover, the positive segregation–crime link is moderated by the local social context measured by the educational composition among residents and the ambient population. Compared with residential segregation, activity space–based segregation is more detrimental for places dominated by the less educated. Our results highlight the elevated influence of segregation on safety beyond the residential space, especially for areas clustered with the less educated ambient population.

Contact-Fraud Victimization among Urban Seniors: An Analysis of Multilevel Influencing Factors

Fraud crime against seniors has become a serious social problem both at home and abroad. While most of the relevant research focuses on non-contact fraud against seniors, a few studies attend to contact fraud targeted at seniors. By constructing a theoretical framework of “environment–activity–fraud victimization” based on the integration of multiple theories, this study conducts a multilevel logit analysis of contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors in the downtown area of Guangzhou at the individual and neighborhood levels. The results show that contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors is influenced by individual-level factors and neighborhood-level factors, and that individual-level factors play a more significant role. More specifically, seniors with higher education levels and lower levels of self-control are more likely to experience contact-fraud victimization, while seniors who are older and healthier, and have higher household income are significantly less likely to experience contact-fraud victimization. Further, higher levels of collective efficacy and better living environments in the neighborhood significantly reduce the probability of contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors, while the percentage of the migrant population, the percentage of the aging population, and developed traffic environments significantly increase the probability of seniors experiencing contact fraud. This study confirms the feasibility of examining contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors based on the integration of theories, and enriches the research results of crime geography in terms of contact-fraud victimization among urban seniors.

Кількісно-якісні показники злочинності у сфері земельних відносин в Україні

Based on the results of the empirical study, the article attempts to assess the current state of crime in the field of landrelations in Ukraine. The presented scientific problem is solved by analyzing and summarizing a number of quantitativeand qualitative indicators: the level of this crime, the level of criminal record, coefficients, latency, dynamics, structure,geography, social consequences.The author’s methodology of cognition of the outlined criminological problems is offered. It includes a number ofinterrelated elements, including the system of this crime. It is formed by criminal offenses provided by Articles 197–1,239, 239–1, 239–2, 254 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.The level of these offenses was studied for the period 2015–2021. It is emphasized that the largest criminalization ofland relations in the last 15 years is taking place. This affects the negative dynamics of land crimes in Ukraine.Taking into account the results of expert interviews and case studies, the latency of land crime has been studied, itsmain causes have been identified, and some measures have been proposed to reduce the level of concealment of thisphenomenon.Attention is paid to the peculiarities of criminological and criminal-legal structure of this type of crime: seasonalfluctuations, category of lands, form of their ownership, area, crops grown on it, types of constructed objects, tools, etc.The geography of crime in the field of land relations has been studied, the factors influencing the territorial distributionof its individual manifestations have been identified.The social consequences of land crimes are analyzed. Calculations of annual material damage from the listed landoffenses, etc.

Application of dashboards in the geography of crime: case study of crime of infringement of public policy in Vilnius city municipality registered by police in 2015–2019

In this article the authors present virtual dashboards, their possibilities and use cases, focusing on infringements of public policy registered by the police of Lithuania. Events of particular types registered by the police are reliable indicators of crime. Appropriate analysis and visualization of event data reflect current situation and may lead to better management of crime. ArcGIS Online applications that allow creating interactive cartographic and analytical products are described in more detail–. The article provides information on the types of dashboards and their examples. Possibilities of cartographic dashboards in the field of crime geography are presented. Our dashboards represent crime event data registered by the police with a focus on infringements of public policy that have been analyzed and visualized using ArcGIS Online technologies. Keywords: dashboard, crime geography, public nuissance, infringement of public policy.

Prostorne karakteristike krivičnih dela protiv životne sredine izvršenih u Mađarskoj

This study examines the spatial characteristics of crimes that have been committed against nature and the environment. In Hungary, research in the domain of the geography of crime is truly rare, and the number of researchers who have dared to tackle the spatial properties of crimes against nature and the environment is even lower. The author's hypothesis is that correlation between certain crimes and socio-demographic characteristics can be established, so the spatial distribution of these crimes differs significantly. The temporal interval of the study includes the period between 2017 and 2021, and the data that was used comes from publicly available databases.

Criminological characterisation of violent crimes involving firearms, committed against life and well-being of people

Efficiency of crime preventive measures directly depends on the awareness of law enforcement agents about the object of preventive influence. It is especially important to consider this circumstance in relation to violent infringements. Therefore, knowledge concerning the criminological profile of crimes against life and well-being of people that are committed with firearms, under severe criminogenic conditions in the country, has a special value. As of today, the category “criminological charasteristic of criminality” is yet to receive it’s solid value. Typically, this term consists of descriptions of distinctive features of criminality as a phenomenon, which is composed via analysis of it’s quantitative and qualitative indicators, namely: total amount of offences and perpetrators, coefficient of criminality (coefficients of crime intensity and crime activity), crime dynamics, crime structure, geography of crime and price of crime. In this research a universally recognized model of criminological characteristic was used, which involves such indicators: crime level, crime coefficient, crime dynamics, crime structure, geography of crime, price of crime and level of latency. The purpose of this article is to determine the current state and tendencies of crimes against life and well-being of people involving firearms use in Ukraine. The challenge of this article is to provide a criminological characteristic of this phenomenon under modern conditions. Research results have established a general pattern of lowering levels of certain crimes, qualified by the following articles of Criminal Code of Ukraine: 115 “Homicide”, 116 “Murder commited in the heat of passion”, 118 “Murder in excess of necessary defense or in excess of measures necessary to apprehend an offender”, 119 “Negligent homicide”, 121 “Intended grievous bodily injury”, 122 “Intended bodily injury of medium gravity”, 123 “Intended grievous bodily injury inflicted in the heat of passion”, 124 “Intended grievous bodily injury inflicted in excess of necessary defense or in excess of measures necessary to apprehend an offender”, 125 “Intended minor bodily injury”, 128 “Negligent grievous bodily injury or negligent bodily injury of medium gravity”, 129 “Death threat”

Introduction to Focus Section: The Geographies of Crime and Policing in the Global Countryside

This focus section aims to identify, conceptualize, and understand the emerging geographies of rural crime, in particular those of globalized rural crime, and evaluate their impact on different rural places. Contributions to this focus section reflect an interdisciplinary array of fields from geography, economy, and criminology to rural studies, fully engaged with pertinent theories and state-of-the-art literature. The focus section also critically examines how security and policing of rural areas is delivered by existing and emerging agencies, drawing from evidence from different country contexts in Brazil, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Sweden.

Policing the Global Countryside: Toward a Research Agenda

This article provides an overview of work that has examined the geographies of crime and policing in rural areas. Using policing in the United Kingdom as a jumping-off point, it outlines the significance of organized crime in rural places and argues that global, rather than community-based, perspectives are needed in its study and policing. It concludes by drawing attention to the value of Southern criminology in developing a research agenda to understand the geographies of rural policing.