NCJ Number
243050
Journal
Crime Prevention and Community Safety Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2013 Pages: 151-162
Date Published
May 2013
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examined the existence of repeat and near-repeat patterns for motor vehicle thefts.
Abstract
Recent studies have shown that there are spatio-temporal patterns in the distribution of motor vehicle thefts, but micro-level research has not considered the different forms of the crime. This research utilizes data on vehicle theft incidents (N=9,417) from 2007 to 2009 in a mid-sized U.S. city to determine whether repeat and near-repeat patterns exist across overall, temporary and permanent thefts. The results show that there is an increased risk for repeat victimization in the days following an initial incident for all forms of vehicle theft. Near repeat patterns are found for temporary vehicle thefts but not for permanent thefts. The research and policy implications derived from this study include a more crime-specific research agenda and increased consideration of offender motivation in the development of crime prevention programs. (Published Abstract)