A Comparison of the Spatial Patterns of Calls-for-Service Associated with Mental Health with Other Call Types

• In Event: Crime and Place: Spatial Patterns of Mental Health Issues and Violence

Abstract

It is well established that crime concentrates in a few specific geographic locations known as “hot spots.” But a key issue that is still being examined is the extent to which such crime concentrations are specialized or general in the types of crimes that occur there. Additionally, very little of this research focuses on mental health-related calls for service. This paper will use a spatial point pattern test to examine the spatial distribution of mental health-related calls for service and calls for other crime types in a large urban east coast city at various spatial levels - census tracts, census neighborhoods, and street segments. Through this test we are able to identify geographic areas where high concentrations of mental health calls overlap with other types of calls and also places where they differ. These findings will help to inform our understanding of the spatial distribution of mental health hot spots, and the extent to which they overlap with more general hot spots of crime. We also discuss the policy implications of these findings for both police practices and potential responses by public health services

Authors

• Victoria L Goldberg, George Mason University

• David Weisburd, Hebrew University and George Mason University

• Clair White, George Mason University