In the last years, the increasing level of criminality that has characterized the modern economies has drawn the attention of sociologists and economists in order to identify the causes leading to commit criminal offences. The aim of the pa- per is to investigate the causes of crime activity in 103 Italian provinces (NUTS3 regions) for the years 1999 and 2003. The Italian crime phenomenon is characterized by some stylized facts: high spatial and time variability of crime activities, and pres- ence of 'organized crime' (e.g. Mafia and Camorra) localized in some local territorial areas. Using exploratory spatial data analysis (ESDA), the paper firstly explores the spa- tial structure and distribution of four different typologies of crimes: murders, thefts, frauds and squeezes. ESDA allows us to detect some important geographical dimen- sions and to distinguish crucial micro- and macro- territorial aspects of offences. Further, on the basis of Becker-Ehrlich model, a spatial cross-sectional model - in- cluding deterrence, economic and socio-demographic variables - has been performed to investigate the determinants of Italian crime in 1999 and 2003 and its 'neighbour- ing' effects, measured in terms of 'geographical' and 'relational' proximities. The empirical results obtained by using different spatial weights matrices high- lighted that socio-economic variables have a relevant impact on crime activities, but their role changes enormously respect to crimes against person (murders) or against property (thefts, frauds and squeezes) and over time.