A Near-repeat Examination of Economic Crimes

• In Event: Prevalence, Characteristics, and Prevention of Property and Economic Offenses

Abstract

In recent years, criminological literature has identified an increase in the prevalence of economic crimes, leading to what might be thought of as a growing “crime wave”. Although inquiry into economic crimes has amassed empirical attention, one area that has remained under investigated has been nuanced, spatiotemporal patterns of economic crime. One technique suitable for this type of investigation (which has been used to study burglary and gun violence) is near repeat analysis. Using this technique, the current study investigates if economic crimes (e.g., credit card/ATM fraud, counterfeiting/forgery, and false pretenses/swindling) are clustered in space and time. Economic crime data used here span 72 months and come geocoded a priori from the Fort Worth Police Department (TX). Results indicate that near repeat patterns do exist to a limited extent for economic crimes in general, as well as when they are disaggregated into specific offenses. However, the most notable finding across all analyses is that the greatest risk for further victimization is concentrated to the same location, thus underscoring an increased likelihood of repeat victimization. Discussion of implications, limitations, and future directions are also provided.

Authors

• Jonathan Alexander Grubb, Georgia Southern University

• Zachary Powell, University of Texas at Dallas