The Law of Crime Concentration: Patterns of Spatial Crime in US Street Segments

Abstract

Criminology Assignment As argued on page (429), the law of crime concentration can be described as the phenomenon of spatial crime concentration in various places that the author investigated. Based on the phenomenon, these spatial concentrations vary by crime type, which demands further investigation to better understand the crime patterns. However, the author further confirms the existence of a general pattern of spatial crime concentration across most states in the United States, which best explains the meaning of the law of crime concentration as a general pattern of crime concentration in places (429). With such findings, one can argue that another potential aspect of the law of crime concentration at places is that these spatial crime concentration patterns are stable over time. As expressed in pg (431), the author's purpose is to analyze street segments in their relation to crime trajectories. The author aims to explain the extent to which street segments enhance drop or rise on crime levels within the United States of America. The law of crime concentration is further elaborated with the author analyzing the connection between spatial crime concentration, the type of individual crime, and the nature of crime in the areas of study to offer a better pattern that defines the nature of the law of crime concentration from the findings generated from the research. The author confirms that street segments can account for most crime drops in most American states, with only nine streets in Vancouver reporting high crime concentrations. The author uses computerized calls for service record crime data from the Vancouver police department to analyze better the nature of crimes, the types of crimes, and the extent of their occurrence. With such data, the author can develop a defined pattern of crime concentration areas within the area of study. The author used a total of 1.17 million criminal events in the research, which were geocoded with a 97% success rate (432)....