Crime Concentrations in Atlanta: Testing the Law of Crime Concentration at Place
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Drake, Zachary M
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Abstract
In this study, I explore the law of crime concentrations using Atlanta, GA. The goal is to add a new data point to the growing literature of crime concentrations as well as begin the academic discussion on urban layout as it relates to crime concentrations. Using data provided from the Atlanta Police Department, I use similar group-based trajectory analysis as previous studies in the crime concentration literature. I use the street segments, and the number of crimes occurring there per year, as the unit of my analysis. Crime in Atlanta is more concentrated than in other cities, and seems to follow patterns attributed to suburbs by other authors. Most streets show no crime across 8 years and the clear majority of streets are stable in their amount of crime. The increased concentration found in Atlanta could contribute to the study of urban layouts previously believed to be safer by Defensible Space scholars. Further research can use Atlanta as a basis to test the connection between crime concentration and urban layout.
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Crime, Place, Geography, Trajectory, Hot spots, Urban layout