Abstract
Existing crime statistics generally either compare crime rates within regions over time, in order to identify a worsening or improvement in crime risk, or rank regions by crime rate in a specific time period, in order to compare communities on the relative risk of victimisation. Such comparisons, however, provide no information about the relative contribution made by particular geographical areas to the observed aggregate change in the state crime rate or to the total level of crime. This paper describes the development of graphical methods and summary indices which measure the spatial dispersion of crime risk and the spatial dispersion of a change in crime risk. Measures of crime dispersion such as those described in this paper could prove useful in choosing among alternative crime control strategies and in measuring the net effects of crime control strategies or policies. Furthermore, the tendency towards a progressive concentration of crime in certain neighbourhoods may be studied.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.