Influences of Incident and Contextual Characteristics on Crime Clearance of Nonlethal Violence: A Multilevel Event History Analysis

• NCJ Number: 222314
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 36 Issue: 1 Dated: March/April 2008 Pages: 61-71
• Author(s): Aki Roberts
• Date Published: March 2008
• Length: 11 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: American Statistical Assoc; Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS)
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study investigated the effects of the incident and contextual (social disorganization and police resources) factors on crime clearance by arrest for robbery, forcible rape, and aggravated assault incidents.

Abstract

Results indicated that incidents with female victims appeared more likely to be cleared than those with male victims for robbery and aggravated assault. For rape incidents, the nonsignificance of victims' gender may reflect the relative rarity of male victims. There was no statistically significant difference in likelihood of clearance between White and non-White victims for robbery and aggravated assault, and for rape, incidents with non-White victims had higher odds of clearance. Nonlethal violent incidents having multiple offenses or victims, or an injured victim, had greater odds of clearance. Odds of clearance in aggravated assault incidents were much greater when the offender was known to the victim than when the offender was a stranger. Also, rape incidents committed by an offender known to the victim had higher odds of clearance than stranger rape incidents. For robbery, however, victim-offender relationship did not have a statistically significant impact. Firearm incidents were least likely to clear for robbery and aggravated assault, perhaps due to lack of physical evidence from close contact between victim and offender. Rape incidents with a weapon had lower odds of clearance than those without a weapon. For robbery, incidents committed during normal business hours were more likely to clear than those committed outside of business hours, but not for rape and aggravated assault. Among the social disorganization variables, higher unemployment significantly decreased the likelihood of crime clearance for robbery and aggravated assault. Data were collected from the 2000 national incident-based reporting system, the 2000 census, and the 2000 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics. Tables, notes, references, appendixes A-B