A randomized experimental study of sharing crime data with citizens: Do maps produce more fear?

Abstract

Abstract. The larger roles of the community in crime prevention and improvements in technology have increased policeYcitizen communication and the distribution of information from police departments to private citizens. Combined, these changes have led to the current movement among law enforcement agencies toward sharing both summary reports and maps of crime with community groups. Although the dissemination of crime information is intended to benefit community members, there is a lack of empirical evidence demonstrating the effects of crime mapping on citizen perceptions and fear of crime. This experiment compared three formats for disseminating crime data; two popular types of crime maps (i.e., graduated symbol and density) and the traditional tabular format of crime statistics. A randomized experimental design was used to measure residents' fear of crime and their perception of the safety of different areas of Redlands, CA. Overall, residents who viewed either type of map reported less fear than those who viewed tabular statistics. Respondents who viewed graduated symbol maps consistently reported less fear than either density maps or tabular statistics. However, there were differences depending on the type of map. While graduated symbol maps were associated with the lowest levels of fear of robbery, theft or assault; density maps produced different reactions depending on the area of the city. Finally, the maps did not stigmatize high crime areas of Redlands. Where statistically significant differences existed, respondents who were given maps were more likely to recommend someone move into an area than those who were given tabular statistics.

Examining the Perception and Use of Open Crime Data from a Citizen Perspective

“…Intention to use open crime data I am willing to use open crime data in the future gender, age, and education. Last, to measure the level of perceived risks imposed on the society, six items were created based on the relevant literature (Groff et al, 2005;Kounadi et al, 2015;Wartell & McEwen, 2001) (α=.88). Open crime data may increase the fear of crime and associate some areas with high crime rates.…”

Escaping the pushpin paradigm in geographic information science: (re)presenting national crime data

“…Furthermore, given that the choice of crime data representation is known to elicit variable responses related to an individual's fear of crime (Groff et al . ), using an appropriate representation is critical if an underlying objective of providing these data is to address the reassurance gap. With point‐based representation, there is a significant danger users will misinterpret crime events as occurring at exactly those points displayed on the map.…”

Engagement, Empowerment and Transparency: Publishing Crime Statistics using Online Crime Mapping1

“…Groff et al (2005) were the first to systematically examine how the fear of crime that people exhibit relates to their interpretation of crime statistics in Redlands, California (USA). In their randomised control trial (RCT), one group received a graduated symbol map, the second group received a crime density surface hotspot map, and the last group acted as a control by receiving crime statistics in a table, with a corresponding (plain) map for cross-reference.…”