General Theory of Spatial Crime Patterns

• In Event: Criminogenic Moves Within and Across Space

Abstract

I propose a general model for the spatial distribution of crime. I develop a formal model of the spatial distribution of offenders, targets, and guardians, and their spatial movements. I suggest ways to obtain estimates of the spatial distribution of these three classes of persons. I then combine these equations to build a model that provides testable hypotheses of the spatial distribution of crime. The generated hypotheses regard the micro-spatial distribution of crime, as well as hypotheses regarding the macro-spatial distribution of crime.

Author

• John R. Hipp, University of California, Irvine