NCJ Number
87690
Date Published
1981
Length
22 pages
Annotation
According to the concept of the criminal commute, the distance that an offender travels to commit a crime depends on the offender's characteristics, the immediate environment in which the offender lives, the characteristics of the larger surrounding area, the type of crime, and the type and location of potential targets.
Abstract
The concept of the criminal commute uses a theoretical model of criminal choice in which both the offender's motivation and the accessibility of suitable targets are crucial. Data on 796 burglars, 832 robbers, and 430 rapists in the District of Columbia formed the basis of a test of this model. The analysis focused on the location of the crime and the residential address and the characteristics of the offender. Robbers traveled an average of 2.10 miles to their offense; burglars, about 1.62 miles; and rapists, about 1.15 miles. About half the rapes occurred within one-half mile of the offender's home, compared to 30 percent of the burglaries and less than 25 percent of the robberies. Transitional and commercial areas ranked high as target locations, while residential areas ranked low. The rankings were stronger for robbery and burglary than for rape. Offenders traveled beyond residential neighborhoods, which had low attractive power, looking for targets a considerable distance from home. Offenders also bypassed surrounding areas used for small business purposes. To the extent that a surrounding neighborhood was engaged in large business uses, the neighborhood tended to attract offenders into itself. Once there, offenders victimized both the large business and surrounding targets. Offenders tended to stay close to home if their surrounding area was transitional, probably because transitional areas have high appeal both as targets and in terms of closeness. Tables and figures are provided. A bibliography listing 380 references is located at the end of the volume containing this paper.