| Analysis
of crime to identify geographic or temporal patterns is a useful exercise
for agencies and organizations working to develop effective intervention
strategies. Integrating crime data with other information, such as
land use or daily commuter patterns, provides clues to the situational
factors that facilitate crime. This exploration typically begins with
a broad perspective and once areas of concern are identified, research
efforts target the micro-level factors influencing deviance behavior.
The Crime Analysis Division advocates a blended approach to crime analysis including:
a community-level analysis to identify high concentrations of crime
through geographic tools; and, a contextual analysis, resembling the
traditional site survey or User Analysis to study micro-level environmental
factors thought to produce crime concentration. Below the first stage
of this process is exemplified. A community-level analysis requires addressing two
questions: 1) where does the crime of interest concentrate; and,
2) do these hot street segments correspond to other foci of behavior,
legitimate or otherwise? Since delinquent behavior is shaped by
legitimate, routine activities, it is important to the next step
is to examine community patterns or ecological aspects of human
behavior. For example, it is important to identify whether crime
concentrates within activity nodes, and whether there are arterial/dominant
road or transportation features in close proximity to this area. Figure 1 depicts crime incidents occurring in the
East Valley of San Bernardino County. Data were collected from the
Weekly Crime Reports from the Free Press Enterprise Newspaper for
the period of January to December 2001. Fontana's U-shaped cluster
reflects high-density apartments and likely is a product of increasing
population in the last 5 years. Redlands shows a distinct cluster
in the downtown historic and entertainment district. San Bernardino
experiences a heavy concentration of crime along Baseline St., and
Sterling Ave. Redlands crime tends to concentrate within the central
business district that is intersected by Interstate 10. This pattern
is not surprising, given that within the 2.2 square mile area of
the downtown core, there are three sets of on/off ramps to this
major roadway. Yucaipa faces property related thefts occurring from
single-family homes. 
The
second analytic phase involves a contextual analysis
approximating an abbreviated site survey or User Analysis of the
high crime area. Observations examine the distinctive features of
the built and social environments that are identified by prior research
as influencing offender decision-making. For example, if someone
were trying to understand why commercial burglary clustered on a
particular street they might examine whether the front and back
doors of a business premise are overlooked by residential units.
Figure
2. Micro-level View of a Crime Environment
Integrating
findings from both stages of the analysis is important. From this
information one can begin developing a targeted intervention strategy
that addresses factors contributing to high volumes of crime.
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