Vulnerability and Exposure to Crime: Applying Risk Terrain Modeling to the Study of Assault in Chicago

• NCJ Number: 250074
• Journal: Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy Dated: August 2015 Pages: 1-20
• Date Published: August 2015
• Author(s): L. W. Kennedy; J. M. Caplan
• Length: 20 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2012-IJ-CX-0038
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

This paper builds on the results of prior research that has applied risk assessment and spatial analysis techniques to the study of violence, tying the practical outcomes of spatial risk analysis methods to broader spatial issues on the articulation of risky places for aggravated assault.

Abstract

The authors first conceptualize key relationships, addressing the effects of environmental factors on creating distinct, identifiable areas that are conducive to crime. Propositions of the theory of risky places are posed and then empirically tested using a GIS based program, RTMDx, on aggravated assault data in an urban area. Given the current thinking about crime vulnerability based on concentration and spatial influence of features and events, the authors offer an analytical strategy to model risky places that combines the conceptual insights of crime emergence and persistence, advances in geo-spatial analytical techniques, and micro-level data. (Publisher abstract modified)