NCJ Number
60077
Date Published
1979
Length
52 pages
Annotation
THE IMPACT OF THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT OF BELLINGHAM, WASH., ON CRIMINAL ACTIVITY, PARTICULARLY THEFT AND BURGLARY, IS EXPLORED, WITH ATTENTION GIVEN TO LAND USE CHARACTERISTICS AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH CRIME.
Abstract
THE UNIT OF SPATIAL ANALYSIS IN THE STUDY WAS THE NEIGHBORHOOD. CRIME DATA FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT WERE GEOCODED ACCORDING TO A GRID SYSTEM. CRIME RATE PREDICTIONS WERE BASED ON NEIGHBORHOOD DEMOGRAPHICS, AND PREDICTIONS WERE THEN COMPARED WITH ACTUAL CRIME RATES. NEIGHBORHOODS WITH HIGHER CRIME RATES THAN THOSE PREDICTED WERE LABELED AS PROBLEM AREAS WORTHY OF INCREASED ATTENTION FROM THE POLICE IN THE COURSE OF THE LEAA-FUNDED PROGRAM KNOWN AS OPERATION SAFE CITY. WITH THEFT AND BURGLARY CRIMES REPORTED TO THE POLICE ADJUSTED FOR THE SIZE OF THE POPULATION IN EACH NEIGHBORHOOD AND THE CITY, A CITYWIDE CRIME RATE OF 48.53 PER 1,000 POPULATION WAS OBSERVED. NEIGHBORHOODS HAVING THE GREATEST POPULATION TENDED TO HAVE THE LOWEST PROPORTION OF NONRESIDENTIAL ZONING. A SIGNIFICANT RELATION WAS OBSERVED BETWEEN MULTIFAMILY HOUSING UNITS AND NONRESIDENTIAL ZONING. APPARENTLY, THERE WAS A TREND FOR MULTIFAMILY HOUSING TO MOVE OUT OF ITS TRADITIONAL LOCATIONS AND INTO HIGH-GROWTH AREAS CHARACTERIZED BY DRAMATIC POPULATION INCREASES, HOUSING UNITY INCREASES, FEWER ARTERIAL ROADWAYS, AND LOWER POPULATION DENSITIES. CERTAIN NEIGHBORHOOD CHARACTERISTICS WERE RELATED TO THE MAGNITUDE OF REPORTED THEFT AND BURGLARY OCCURRENCES IN EACH NEIGHBORHOOD, INCLUDING THE NUMBER OF ARTERIAL ROADWAYS AND THE SIZE OF A NEIGHBORHOOD'S POPULATION. NEIGHBORHOODS MOST HEAVILY VICTIMIZED BY THEFT WERE ALSO HEAVILY VICTIMIZED BY BURGLARY. IT IS CONCLUDED THAT FACTORS SUCH AS THE SPECIFIC LOCATION OF ECONOMIC TARGETS, DIFFERENT TECHNICAL VICTIMIZATION PROBLEMS IN HOUSING AREAS, AND TRANSPORTATION PROBLEMS ACCOUNT FOR MOST OF THE CORRELATION BETWEEN NEIGHBORHOOD FEATURES AND THEFT AND BURGLARY ACTIVITIES. DATA AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (DEP)