Street Crime Research Articles

Nationality and Perception of Factors Impacting Decisions to Attend the Olympic Games Before and After COVID-19

The global pandemic caused by the spread of the COVID-19 virus in 2020 has impacted the sports industry in unprecedented ways that will remain at the forefront of how practitioners organize, market, and operate live sport events at every level. A study assessing nine factors impacting a decision to attend the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil found that the fear of contracting the zika viruswas the leadingconcernfor citizens born in the United States (U.S.) while citizens from Chinaranked terrorism, riots, and street violence higher than zika. The nine factors were categorized into three clusters representing 1) environmental health concerns (e.g., zika virus and water contamination), 2) safety and security risks (e.g., terrorism, street crime, riots), and 3) personal issues (e.g., lack of time/finances, no passport, health issues, and unknown factors). A significant difference (p < .05) was found in the combined mean scores of natural citizens from the U.S. and China for each cluster.The study sparks inquiry into whether a significant difference would still exist between Chinese and U.S. citizens’perceptions ofwhether environmental health factors impact decisionsto attend the Olympics if COVID-19 replaced the zika virus and the context applied to the 2020 Games in Tokyo which were postponed until 2021

Safe Haven or Dangerous Place? Stereotype Amplification and Americans’ Perceived Risk of Terrorism, Violent Street Crime, and Mass Shootings

AbstractPeople overestimate the risk of some events, such as terrorist attacks and immigrant crimes, but not of others. Stereotype amplification theory indicates that politicized, out-group stereotypes may be to blame. We examine Americans’ perceptions of the risk that different forms of violence—out-group, in-group and non-racialized—will occur in their local communities. We hypothesize that negative stereotypes of immigrants and Muslims will increase the perceived risk of out-group violence but not of other forms of violence. Analyses of original survey data from a sample of 1,068 Americans reveal four findings: (1) most Americans accurately perceive home-grown violence to be more likely than violence by foreigners, (2) political identification and ideology strongly predict out-group stereotypes, (3) out-group stereotypes strongly predict the perceived risk of out-group violence but are not significantly associated with risk perceptions for other forms of violence and (4) vulnerability factors predict risk perceptions for all forms of violence.

Facial recognition system using LBPH face recognizer for anti-theft and surveillance application based on drone technology

Providing security to the citizens is one of the most important and complex task for the governments around the world which they have to deal with. Street crimes and theft are the biggest threats for the citizens and their belonging. In order to provide security, there is an urgent need of a system that is capable of identifying the criminal in the crowded area. This paper proposes a facial recognition system using Local Binary Patterns Histogram Face recognizer mounted on drone technology. The facial recognition capability is a key feature for a drone to have in order to find or identify the person within the crowd. With the inception of drone technology in the proposed system, we can use it as a surveillance drone as well through which it can cover more area as compared to the stationary system. As soon as the system identifies the desired person, it tags him and transmits the image along with the co-ordinates of the location to the concerned authorities using mounted global positioning system. Proposed system is capable of identifying the person with the accuracy of approximately 89.1%.

Cybercrime in America amid COVID-19: the Initial Results from a Natural Experiment.

The COVID-19 pandemic has radically altered life, killing hundreds of thousands of people and leading many countries to issue “stay-at-home” orders to contain the virus’s spread. Based on insights from routine activity theory (Cohen & Felson 1979), it is likely that COVID-19 will influence victimization rates as people alter their routines and spend more time at home and less time in public. Yet, the pandemic may affect victimization differently depending on the type of crime as street crimes appear to be decreasing while domestic crimes may be increasing. We consider a third type of crime: cybercrime. Treating the pandemic as a natural experiment, we investigate how the pandemic has affected rates of cybervictimization. We compare pre-pandemic rates of victimization with post-pandemic rates of victimization using datasets designed to track cybercrime. After considering how the pandemic may alter routines and affect cybervictimization, we find that the pandemic has not radically altered cyberroutines nor changed cybervictimization rates. However, a model using routine activity theory to predict cybervictimization offers clear support for the theory’s efficacy both before and after the pandemic. We conclude by considering plausible explanations for our findings.

Criminal Deterrence: A Review of the Missing Literature

This review of the criminal deterrence literature focuses on the questions that are largely missing from many recent excellent and comprehensive reviews of that literature and even from the literature itself. By “missing” I mean, first, questions that criminal deterrence scholars have ignored either completely or to a large extent. These questions range from fundamental (the distributional analysis of the criminal justice system) to those hidden in plain sight (economic analysis of misdemeanors), to those that are well-known yet mostly overlooked (the role of positive incentives, offender’s mental state, and celerity of punishment). Second, I use “missing” to refer to the areas where substantial relevant knowledge exists but is largely disregarded within the criminal deterrence research program. The empirical analysis of environmental and tax compliance is a stark example. Finally, I stretch “missing” to describe topics that have been both studied and reviewed but where substantial challenges remain. These include the theoretical explanation for the role of offense history, the proper accounting for the offender’s gains, the estimation of the costs of various crimes, and the cost-benefit analysis of crime-reduction policies.Among the literature’s missing pieces, several stand out both on their own and because they combine to produce a highly unfortunate result. First, although the empirical side of the literature focuses almost exclusively on street crime, the literature makes only a minor effort to estimate the cost of crime and essentially no effort to estimate the cost of white-collar offenses. This adds to the impression—not supported by the available evidence—that street crime is a great social problem while white-collar crime is a minor one. Second, the literature fails to treat misdemeanors and misdemeanor enforcement as an independent subject of study. This failure contributes to the notion—also unjustified—that 13 million or so misdemeanor charges a year and countless millions of stops, frisks, and interrogations that lead to no charges—all heavily skewed by race and class—are also not a major social problem. Third, the literature is only starting to develop a benefit-cost analysis of various crime-reducing strategies. The analysis considers almost exclusively measures reflected in the optimal deterrence model. This creates an impression—almost surely false—that deterrence is the only means of reducing future crime. Finally, the literature ignores distributional analysis altogether, even though the burdens of crime and the criminal justice system vary dramatically, predictably, and disturbingly by race and income. By disregarding this variation, the literature may be reinforcing it. For all these reasons, the criminal deterrence literature may well be contributing to the overwhelming, singular focus of American society and law enforcement on the forceful deterrence of street crime. Addressing the missing pieces would enrich the literature, expand its appeal and policy relevance, and enable academics to contribute to the effort of setting the US criminal justice system on the path of long overdue structural reforms.

Postinjury Engagement With the Police and Access to Care Among Victims of Violent Street Crime: Does Criminal History Matter?

This study examines whether victims of violent street crimes who are known to the police as past offenders, when compared with victims with no arrest history, have different outcomes related to receipt of victim and health-related services, while taking into consideration whether or not police responded to the victimization incident. The sample is comprised of 103 men and women between the age of 18 and 40 living in one Mid-Atlantic city who were victims of street violence within the year before study recruitment. Logistic regression was used to assess the impact of police response to the victimization incident on receipt of victim services, and receipt of victim services on engagement with counseling and mental health services. The results show that prior arrests were not associated with receipt of services. However, having police officers respond to the victimization was associated with higher odds of receiving victim services, and in turn, victim services were associated with receiving mental health treatment. Police response appears to set victims on a path to accessing services. Although the number of arrests was not associated with service receipt, a small percentage of victims who did not receive services stated they were reluctant to cooperate with the police, thus limiting their opportunity for victim services. Because most victims who did not access victim services did not know that they existed, policies that promote more knowledge of and initial engagement with victim services could improve access to needed health and mental health services.

Impact of coronavirus pandemic on social processes in Germany

Coronavirus restrictions initiated by the German government are not widely approved and supported in the country. Dissatisfaction expressed by certain groups of citizens finds reflection in various protests and acts of violence against representatives of the law enforcement agencies, which are regarded to be the main institutions overseeing adherence to the COVID-19 guidelines. The police have less room for maneuver because of the growing pressure amid the possible spread of nationalist and racist attitudes among the employees. The epidemic increases social and economic tensions, hostility in the society, the number of criminal acts especially in the field of street and financial crime. Apart from the locals, people with a migration background, refugees and in particular representatives of ethnically bound criminal groups commit felonies. The pandemic has an influence on the German foreign politics on a wide range of issues.

Countering network poverty as a precursor to gang membership: bridging and social capital through temporary migration research and practice

Purpose This paper aims to disseminate previous street gang research by Hesketh (2018) and the ongoing practice of Box (2015) in countering network poverty as a precursor to gang membership through bridging/social mixing. Findings The findings draw attention to the considerable amount of research, media reports and government policy that has intensified and pathologised the issue of gang membership and its causes in the UK. Moreover, they identify the effects of marginalisation and limited opportunity as the main protagonists and highlight how young disenfranchised people some more resilient than others cope with growing up in areas void of legitimate life choices and positive networks. In particular, the study finds evidence that bridging and the resulting social mixing as a result of temporary migration was highly significant in the decision to conform, desist or abstain from gang membership. Research limitations/implications Liverpool study involved males only (need to examine females within the Merseyside area) although London practice addresses both young men and women. The paper highlights the impact of bridging as an intervention in countering network poverty and friendship networks restricted to marginalised environments, leaving many young people vulnerable to gang involvement, knife and youth crime. Practical implications Impact of bridging on young people in the development of good social capital is as follows: it highlights actual practice of findings in deterring young people away from gangs and criminality; it highlights the need for more interventions aimed at bridging communities; and it identifies the need for interventions around young disenfranchised people (social intelligence). Social implications The evidence suggests that interventions involving bridging both internally and externally can be instrumental in developing policy that aims to deter young people away from street crime. Originality/value The paper attempts to provide originality in highlighting a process that has not been fully implemented within current policy involving young disenfranchised people, gangs and violence.

Cybercrimes on the Streets of the Netherlands? An Exploration of the Intersection of Cybercrimes and Street Crimes

ABSTRACT This article explores the intersections of street crimes and cybercrimes. Fourteen Dutch criminal investigations into networks that committed cybercrimes were analyzed to gain insight into offline and local dimensions of these activities. Firstly, we examined whether the networks in these cases are also involved in other criminal activities than cybercrimes. Secondly, we analyzed the origin and growth of these networks, with specific attention for the role or offline interactions on the physical streets. Thirdly, we explored whether the cases contained information that would indicate the presence of a street culture informing the activities of the offenders. Our analysis of both the criminal activities and the origin and development of the cybercriminal networks highlights the ongoing importance of the offline world. However, our results shed light on more than just the “hidden face of cybercrime.” Based on their linguistic practices and motives and neutralizations, we see examples of how core members, recruiters, and money mules in different cases are embedded in Dutch street culture. Our findings, therefore, indicate that cybercrime cases could also be interpreted as digital diversifications of traditional street (economic) street crimes and, thereby, as empirical examples of street offenders adapting to the rise of technology.

The COVID-19 and the Decline in Crime

Reported crimes have declined in some major cities after the imposition of restrictions on businesses and residents to reduce the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The Balkin-McDonald (1981) model of street crime is used to explain the outcomes. Recent crime rate data from five major cities are provided.

Black Young People and Gang Involvement in London

Drawing upon research undertaken by the present author in East, North West and South London and the work of other UK social scientists, this article considers the evidence concerning the involvement of young people of African-Caribbean origin and Mixed Heritage in street gangs and gang crime in London (For the sake of brevity, I will simply refer to these young people as Black, not least because this is how they usually define themselves). It outlines the sometimes acrimonious debate about the relationship between race, crime and street gangs in the United Kingdom in the past three decades, concluding that while many of the claims made about this relationship may be exaggerated or simply untrue, the evidence for the over-representation of Black young people in street gangs in London is compelling. The article then turns to the changing social and economic predicament of some Black young people in the capital since the 1980s and its relationship with their involvement in gang crime. Finally, it considers the role of drugs business in the proliferation of the gang form and ‘gangsta’ culture and the involvement of growing numbers of younger Black people in County Lines drug dealing.

A spatio-temporal method for crime prediction using historical crime data and transitional zones identified from nightlight imagery

ABSTRACT Accurate crime prediction can help allocate police resources for crime reduction and prevention. There are two popular approaches to predict criminal activities: one is based on historical crime, and the other is based on environmental variables correlated with criminal patterns. Previous research on geo-statistical modeling mainly considered one type of data in space-time domain, and few sought to blend multi-source data. In this research, we proposed a spatio-temporal Cokriging algorithm to integrate historical crime data and urban transitional zones for more accurate crime prediction. Time-series historical crime data were used as the primary variable, while urban transitional zones identified from the VIIRS nightlight imagery were used as the secondary co-variable. The algorithm has been applied to predict weekly-based street crime and hotspots in Cincinnati, Ohio. Statistical tests and Predictive Accuracy Index (PAI) and Predictive Efficiency Index (PEI) tests were used to validate predictions in comparison with those of the control group without using the co-variable. The validation results demonstrate that the proposed algorithm with historical crime data and urban transitional zones increased the correlation coefficient by 5.4% for weekdays and by 12.3% for weekends in statistical tests, and gained higher hit rates measured by PAI/PEI in the hotspots test.

Street Light Outages, Public Safety and Crime Displacement: Evidence from Chicago

For more than one hundred years, street lighting has been one of the most enduring capital investments to maintain public safety. In this study we provide a comprehensive examination of the effect of street lights on crime, by estimating the effect of nearly 300,000 street light outages in Chicago neighborhoods on crime. We find that outdoor nighttime crimes change very little on street segments affected by street light outages, but that crime appears to spillover to nearby street segments during these outages. These findings suggest that crime may follow patterns of human activity and that the impact of localized street light outages can reverberate throughout a community.

Study of the Urban Environment of Kirovski District in Ekaterinburg

This article is concerned with the safety and comfort of living in the urban environment in the Pionerski Posyolok, which is part of the Kirovski district in the city of Ekaterinburg. It focuses on the formation of pedestrian and automobile traffic, describes the urban forms and their impact on criminality, i.e. on the potential number of street crimes. Crimes provoked by the street urban environment, its state of disorder, lack of lighting, and lack of supervision on the part of residents are taken into account. The author studies positive and negative qualities of the streets in this area and separate buildings, patterns of movement, and communication between neighbouring districts. The article highlights the negative factors influencing the perception of the district as safe and comfortable for living. Recommendations are given on possible ways of reorganization of its internal structure, division of pedestrian streams and improvement of residential courtyards.

Respondent Fatigue in Estimates of the Cost of White-Collar Crime: Implications From Willingness-to-Pay Surveys

Contingent valuation (CV) methods are used in many contexts to estimate non-tangible costs, despite some indications that they may not be reliable. In criminal justice, CV has been used to generate “costs of crime” for street, violent, and white-collar crimes. This article explores respondent fatigue using both quantitative and qualitative indicators from an open-ended CV survey where respondents were asked how much they would be willing to pay to reduce certain crimes. Our findings reveal that willingness to pay (WTP) to reduce crime increases when both problematic response patterns and fatigue effects are accounted for in the calculation, indicating that fatigued respondents who also engage in straight lining are driving the WTP estimates down. We conclude by discussing the implications of our results for policymakers and other consumers of CV studies.

Extensive use of Motorcycles in Karachi, Pakistan: Revisiting the Policies that led us here

Motorcycles is a dominant transport model in many Asian Cities. Similar is the case with Karachi, where motorcycles constitutes approximately 52% of the overall passenger transport. Although a motorcycle provides temporary relief in terms of low fuel price, ownership of a vehicle and on top of all an easy commuting option to its owners, it has adversely affected the whole (transportation) system including its users. This paper analyzes various governmental policies that led to the enormous increase in motorcycles and its effects on street crime, Traffic Violation and Traffic Congestion. User attitudes towards opting motorcycles, public transport and environment are also discussed in this paper whill shall be helpful in conducting future studies in this regard.

Criminological Perspective Of Street Crime

Street crime was a type of crime that was currently rife in society, ranging from the practice of extortion, persecution, blackmail, immoral crime, confiscation and seizure of property belonging to others (robber). Crime prevention in the perspective of criminal law policy is pursued by a policy approach, in the sense that there was integration between criminal politics and social politics and integration between efforts to tackle crime by using penal and non-penal means. In the effort to countermeasures with crime, criminology has an important position to learn about crime, criminals and the society's reaction to crime, so appropriate steps can be arranged and planned in the context of efforts to combat crime.This research was an empirical juridical research using several approaches, namely normative approach, case approach and legal principles approach. Data analysis of this research was conducted using qualitative data analysis methods. The findings of this researchwere about street crime which were motivated by 2 (two) factors, namely internal factors and external factors. Internal factors was a factors that originate from within oneself, such as, psychological condition (psychiatric), low understanding of religion and external factors was a factors originating from outside the self-protective actors, namely social factors, such as economics, education. Efforts to prevent the occurrence of street crime were carried out in two ways, namely non-penal efforts and penal efforts. Non-penal efforts carried out by means of efforts that can be done to prevent crime, carried out by patrolling of police in the area that involve crime, socialization for the community and so on. While the penal effort was the implementation of the legal process against the protests, ranging from investigations, examinations and hearings before the trial to the execution of the sentence (execution) and guidance for the convicted person. The obstacles in tackling street crime was having no integration between criminal politics and social politics.

Moving Beyond Abstract Typologies? Overview of State and State-Corporate Crime

The core focus of politicians, citizens, and the majority of criminologists continues to be on the most banal forms of lawbreaking street crimes. Yet state crimes occur vastly more often and are portentously harmful and costly—socially, politically, economically, culturally, and environmentally. As such, I suggest having a foundation for understanding and identifying what are often hidden “crimes” is as pertinent, if not more so today, as we continue to hear daily of atrocities, antitrust violations, tainted products, collusion, price gouging, crimes against humanity, human rights violations, to name just a few, by states and corporations. In addition, the topics covered in this special issue should not be seen as distinct, but rather as part of the overall broader system of power, neoliberalism, and the perpetuation of the inept status quo.

Detecting Video Surveillance Using VGG19 Convolutional Neural Networks

The meteoric growth of data over the internet from the last few years has created a challenge of mining and extracting useful patterns from a large dataset. In recent years, the growth of digital libraries and video databases makes it more challenging and important to extract useful information from raw data to prevent and detect the crimes from the database automatically. Street crime snatching and theft detection is the major challenge in video mining. The main target is to select features/objects which usually occurs at the time of snatching. The number of moving targets imitates the performance, speed and amount of motion in the anomalous video. The dataset used in this paper is Snatch 101; the videos in the dataset are further divided into frames. The frames are labelled and segmented for training. We applied the VGG19 Convolutional Neural Network architecture algorithm and extracted the features of objects and compared them with original video features and objects. The main contribution of our research is to create frames from the videos and then label the objects. The objects are selected from frames where we can detect anomalous activities. The proposed system is never used before for crime prediction, and it is computationally efficient and effective as compared to state-of-the-art systems. The proposed system outperformed with 81 % accuracy as compared to state-of-the-art systems.

Restorative Justice, White-Collar Crime, And The 2008 Financial Crisis

Despite potential criminal behavior, no senior executives from major U.S. financial institutions were incarcerated for actions related to the 2008 financial crisis, an outcome decried by a variety of academics, journalists, and judges, as well as the broader public. This critique is premised on a retributive theory of justice and the belief that incarceration is an effective deterrent against future crime. But are calls for more criminal sanctions warranted? Restorative justice offers an alternative lens to critically evaluate the retributive paradigm that supports calls to put more bankers in jail, and underlays the broader approach to criminal justice in the U.S. Though restorative justice has been increasingly used around the world for blue-collar street crimes and state crimes, its theory and application to white collar crime is less well developed. This research fills that gap by evaluating the governmental response to financial wrongdoing related to the 2008 financial crisis through the lens of restorative justice. I argue that a restorative justice approach to financial regulation is theoretically desirable and outline a variety of financial regulatory reforms to more closely align the Department of Justice’s approach to white-collar financial crime and federal financial regulators’ approach to banking regulation with restorative justice principles.