Alcohol Outlets and Robberies: Accounting for Neighborhood Characteristics and Alcohol Outlet Types

• In Event: Crime and Place: Facilities, Land Use, and Crime

Abstract

There is growing evidence of an ecological association between alcohol outlet density and violence. However, to date most ecological studies have grouped all crimes or all violent crimes into one broad category, and less is known about the influence of alcohol outlets, including different types of alcohol outlets such as bars and restaurants or liquor stores, on robberies, in particular. Using Milwaukee, Wisconsin, block groups as units of analysis and controlling for several structural characteristics associated with robbery rates, we estimated spatially lagged regression models to determine if the variation in alcohol outlet density, including total outlets and disaggregating by on- and off-premise outlets, is related to robbery density. Results suggest that total alcohol outlet density and off-premise alcohol outlet density were significantly associated with robbery density. On-premise alcohol outlet density was not significantly associated with robbery density. This research not only extends existing research to examine the role of alcohol outlet densities and robberies, but may also hold important policy implications for local jurisdictions.

Authors

• Aleksandra J. Snowden, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

• Tina Freiburger, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee