A Multi-City Examination of the Influence of Crime Generators

• In Event: Poster Session 1

Abstract

The present study focuses on crime concentration in four major cities (Chicago, Denver, Philadelphia, and Seattle) and across thirteen different generators (restaurants, dispensaries, pharmacies, hotels, gas stations, bars, other alcohol establishments, bus stops, subways, pawn shops, barber shops, grocery stores, and parking garages). The highest generators are compared across cities for their crime risk above the city average, their average crime risk on street segments compared by four different types of crime (disorder, drug, personal, and property), the average crime on street segments by the number of unique generator types per city, and representations of the 80/20 rule for each type of generator.
Overall, generators were remarkably consistent across cities in both the average number of crimes associated with the number of unique generators, as well as standardized averages per street segments. Similarly, the same generators were frequently high risk across types of crime (i.e. pawn shops, subways, parking garages, bars). Finally, some generators showed an outsized influence on crime relative to their number of segments (pawn shops, subways, hotels) which can provide an intervention point as compared to generators which have a presence on a large number of segments such as bars or restaurants.

Authors

• Marc Thomas Huffer, Temple University

• Alese Wooditch, Temple University