Crime on the Edges: Assessing the Mechanisms and Influence of Physical and Perceptual Boundaries on Predatory Crime

• In Event: Communities and Place: Advances in Understanding the Spatial Dynamics of Crime

Abstract

Crime pattern theory emphasizes the role of the physical environment, including activity nodes, paths, and edges, in facilitating human movement and producing opportunities for crime to occur. However, only a handful of studies have examined how edges – physical and manmade boundaries in urban space – influence crime. The few studies that have assessed these features are subject to a number of shortcomings including the absence of important covariates, such as potentially criminogenic facilities and the surrounding street network. Moreover, the theoretical mechanisms by which different types of edges influence crime may vary and are somewhat unclear. This study discusses these mechanisms in detail and assesses how edges influence the spatial distribution of aggravated assaults, robberies, and burglaries in Cincinnati, Ohio. In addition, this research considers how street network characteristics influence crime in conjunction with edges, and includes explicit statistical controls for the presence of potentially criminogenic facilities.

Authors

• James D. Kelsay, University of Cincinnati

• Cory P. Haberman, University of Cincinnati