Analysing the effect of betting shops on crime in England

• In Event: WG-PLACE 3: Research on crime, place and time

Abstract

Critics allege that there is a link between gambling provisioning and crime and argue that gambling opportunities are abundant in areas with high crime rates, and they serve as attractors of anti-social and criminal behaviours. However, there is limited research on the relationship between betting shops and crime in the UK. Therefore, this study analysed the spatial patterns of betting shops and crime in England. This study adopted both geospatial and multilevel modelling techniques to analyse secondary data on crime, betting shops and neighbourhood characteristics obtained from the Police, Gambling Commission, and UK 2011 Census. The study first investigated whether betting shops and crime co-locate in similar neighbourhoods using hotspot analysis. Thereafter, it examined the relationship between the number of betting shops and 10 crime categories (i.e., anti-social behaviour, bicycle theft, other theft, public disorder, shoplifting, theft from person, burglary, criminal damage and arson, robbery, and vehicle crime) across all lower super output area in England, whilst controlling for other neighbourhood characteristics that are crime correlates based on evidence from literature review. Spatial analysis revealed significant clustering of betting shops and different crime types in neighbourhoods across England. Negative binomial multilevel model results further identified statistically significant effect of betting shops on crime even after accounting for the effects of ethnic heterogeneity, concentrated disadvantage and inequality, residential instability, number of bars, other retail type premises and bus stops. Our findings suggest that all risk factors of crime including betting shops converge in similar areas, and this creates opportunities for more crimes. We suggest focusing on place management strategies which incorporates all creators of spatial structures to invoke more responsible and sustainable creation process.

Authors

• Oluwole Adeniyi, Nottingham Trent University

• Ferhat Tura, Bournemouth University

• Andy David Newton, Nottingham Trent University