The Criminal Fire Triangle: An Exploratory Study of the Spatiotemporal Correlates of Intentionally Set Fires

• In Event: Posters I

Abstract

Over 40,000 arsons were reported in the 2014 Uniform Crime Report; however, this number is underestimated since there are no official arson trends reported by the FBI due to the lack of agencies reporting this offense. Arson is one of the most destructive and under researched crimes. This lack of research can be attributed to the dual definition of arson, that is, the destruction of one’s own property or someone else’s property, the opportunistic nature of arson, and the inability to determine a measurable rate. To compensate for the disparity in arson reporting, the following study uses fire department data on intentionally set fires that may or may not be known to the police. The following study will use data from the 2014 National Fire Incident Based Reporting System and the 2010 American Community Survey 4-Year Estimates to explore the spatiotemporal convergence of structural and social correlates related to arson within the framework of routine activities theory and social disorganization theory. Logistic regression and local colocation quotient analyses will be used to determine clustering and significance. Analyses will be run in SPSS and ArcGIS 10.3. Results are forthcoming.

Author

• Rhena Anna Victoria South, University of Central Florida