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Longitudinal Assessment of the Impact of Foreclosure on Neighborhood Crime

NCJ Number
245827
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 50 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2013 Pages: 359-389
Author(s)
Charles M. Katz; Danielle Wallace; E. C. Hedberg
Date Published
August 2013
Length
31 pages
Annotation
This report examines the possible effects of housing foreclosure on neighborhood levels of crime.
Abstract
This report examines the possible effects of housing foreclosure on neighborhood levels of crime and to assess temporal lags in the impact of foreclosure on neighborhood levels of crime. Longitudinal data came from Glendale, AZ, a city at the epicenter of the Nation's foreclosure problem. The authors rely on four data sources: 1) foreclosure data, 2) computer-aided dispatch CAD/police records management system RMS data, 3) U.S. census and census estimate data, and 4) land use data. Foreclosure has a short-term impact, typically no more than 3 months, on total crime, property crime, and violent crime, and no more than 4 months for drug crime. Foreclosures do not have a long-term effect on crime in general, and have different, though modest effects on different types of crime. The relationship between foreclosure and crime is not linear in nature but rather is characterized by a temporal, short-term flux in crime. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.