NCJ Number
196609
Journal
Criminal Justice Policy Review Volume: 13 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2002 Pages: 257-285
Editor(s)
Nanci Koser Wilson
Date Published
September 2002
Length
19 pages
Annotation
The article uses insights gained from rational choice theory to examine the effect of criminal effort on auto theft incidents in Newark, New Jersey during the year 2000, as measured by distance traveled to a criminal opportunity by use of mapping technology.
Abstract
This research report focuses on crime and its relationship to environmental characteristics by means of using mapping software to measure distance traveled between offender's residence and points of theft, and to provide a multilayered visual display of opportunity structure. The four coded layers used to show differential opportunity were land use, public housing, major roadways, and Penn Station. Some figures show a map of land use coded for opportunity to commit auto theft, a map of public housing coded for opportunity to commit auto theft, a map of major roadways coded for opportunity to commit auto theft, a map of Penn Station coded for opportunity to commit auto theft, a graph of distance traveled from the point of residence to the point of theft, a smoothed opportunity structure for auto theft in Newark, a comparison of the opportunity structure to a density map of auto theft incidents in Newark, and a map of distance traveled from points of residence to points of theft relative to the opportunity structure. A definition of "effort" and an explanation of rational choice theory are given, within the context of a discussion of situational crime prevention used as a theoretical basis for this study project. The use of distance plus opportunity as they relate to effort expended to carry out a crime provide the hypothesis that effort = distance + opportunity. This exploratory analysis of the spatial dynamics uses cartographic technology to generate a visual display to provide a picture of how criminal opportunity for auto theft can emerge. The data used included 228 cases, in Newark, in which the offender resided in Newark and was arrested for car theft. The two key characteristics were combined in a final map to prove an analysis of criminal effort and its role in the decision-making process of the criminal. Notes, references