Neighborhood Level Spatial Analysis of the Relationship Between Alcohol Outlet Density and Criminal Violence

Britt, Heather; Carlin, Bradley P.; Toomey, Traci L.; Wagenaar, Alexander C.

doi:10.1007/s10651-005-1518-3

Cited by 100 publications

(93 citation statements)

References 26 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…These findings are consistent with a body of research that has shown that the presence and density of alcohol outlets are associated with violent crime in cities with a population 200,000 or greater in the US. 9,10,14,[27][28][29][30][31][32][33] For example, a study in Washington DC found that community-level liquor outlet density was significantly associated with violent crimes, independent of other neighborhood factors including violent crime, and the prevalence of weapons and illicit drugs. 21 Another study in Los Angeles, found that the total liquor outlet density was positively related to the assault rate (one type of violent crime) over the study period.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood Alcohol Outlets and the Association with Violent Crime in One Mid-Atlantic City: The Implications for Zoning Policy

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Violent crime such as homicide causes significant excess morbidity and mortality in US urban areas. A health impact assessment (HIA) identified zoning policy related to alcohol outlets as one way to decrease violent crime. The objectives were to determine the relationship between alcohol outlets including off-premise alcohol outlets and violent crime in one urban area to provide local public health evidence to inform a zoning code rewrite. An ecologic analysis of census tracts in Baltimore City was conducted from 2011 to 2012. The data included violent crimes (n=51,942) from 2006 to 2010, licensed alcohol outlets establishments (n=1,327) from 2005 to 2006, and data on neighborhood disadvantage, percent minority, percent occupancy, and drug arrests from 2005 to 2009. Negative binomial regression models were used to determine the relationship between the counts of alcohol outlets and violent crimes controlling for other factors. Spatial correlation was assessed and regression inference adjusted accordingly. Each one-unit increase in the number of alcohol outlets was associated with a 2.2 % increase in the count of violent crimes adjusting for neighborhood disadvantage, percent minority, percent occupancy, drug arrests, and spatial dependence (IRR=1.022, 95 % CI=1.015, 1.028). Off-premise alcohol outlets were significantly associated with violent crime in the adjusted model (IRR= 1.048, 95 % CI=1.035, 1.061). Generating Baltimore-specific estimates of the relationship between alcohol outlets and violent crime has been central to supporting the incorporation of alcohol outlet policies in the zoning code rewrite being conducted in Baltimore City.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighborhood Alcohol Outlets and the Association with Violent Crime in One Mid-Atlantic City: The Implications for Zoning Policy

et al. 2013

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, police data is often used in these kinds of analyses (e.g. Miles-Doan and Kelly, 1997; Bartolo, 2001;Britt et al, 2005;Gorman et al, 2005), and the use of a range of control variables related to police reporting rates (e.g. socioeconomic disadvantage) will ameliorate this bias somewhat.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The ecology of domestic violence: the role of alcohol outlet density

Livingston

2010

Geospat Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Studies have consistently found positive associations between the density of alcohol outlets and levels of violence in areas. Few studies have examined whether this relationship holds for domestic violence. This study assesses whether alcohol outlet density is related to domestic violence and whether this relationship is due to alcohol availability or to co-occurring economic disadvantage and social disorganisation. Cross-sectional data on family incidents, liquor outlets and socio-demographic characteristics were obtained for 217 postcodes in Melbourne, Australia. These data were used to construct models assessing the association between alcohol outlet density and domestic violence, both with and without controlling for socio-demographic factors. Models were tested for spatial autocorrelation, and spatial-error models were developed to control for its influence. Outlet density was significantly associated with rates of domestic violence, even controlling for socio-demographic factors. The density of hotels (pubs) was positively associated with domestic violence rates and the density of restaurants and bars was negatively associated with domestic violence. Socio-economic disadvantage was also associated with domestic violence rates. The density of packaged liquor outlets was not associated with rates of domestic violence. The results present a mixed picture, and further study is required to develop a clearer understanding of the links between alcohol availability and domestic violence.

show abstract

“…This was extended by Besag et al (1991) to separate spatial variability from random heterogeneity in regional disease maps. Britt et al (2005) and Zhu et al (2006) examined the relationship between alcohol outlet density and violence in different areas using hierarchical Bayesian spatial models. In this paper, we add a dual temporal changepoint dimension to the modeling in order to analyze trends in assaultive violence in Los Angeles at the census tract-level.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multilevel spatio-temporal dual changepoint models for relating alcohol outlet destruction and changes in neighbourhood rates of assaultive violence

Scribner

Carlin

et al. 2008

Geospat Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Many previous studies have suggested a link between alcohol outlets and assaultive violence. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of the "1992 Civil Unrest" in Los Angeles (which followed the "Rodney King incident"), in which many alcohol outlets were damaged leading to a decrease in alcohol outlet density, on crime. We leverage the natural experiment created by the closure of alcohol outlets in certain areas and not others to explore the effects of alcohol availability on assault crimes at the census tract level. We develop a hierarchical model that controls for important covariates (such as race and socio-economic status) and accounts for unexplained spatial and temporal variability. While our model is somewhat complex, its hierarchical Bayesian analysis is accessible via the WinBUGS software. Our results show that, keeping other effects fixed, the reduction in alcohol availability within a census tract was associated with a drop in the assaultive violence rate at the census tract level. Comparing several dual candidate changepoint models using the Deviance Information Criterion, the drop in assaultive violence rate is best seen as having occurred one year after the reduction in alcohol availability, with the effect lasting roughly five years. We also create maps of the fitted assault rates in Los Angeles, as well as spatial residual maps that suggest various spatially-varying covariates are still missing from our model.

show abstract

Neighborhood Level Spatial Analysis of the Relationship Between Alcohol Outlet Density and Criminal Violence

Cited by 100 publications

References 26 publications

Neighborhood Alcohol Outlets and the Association with Violent Crime in One Mid-Atlantic City: The Implications for Zoning Policy

Neighborhood Alcohol Outlets and the Association with Violent Crime in One Mid-Atlantic City: The Implications for Zoning Policy

The ecology of domestic violence: the role of alcohol outlet density

Multilevel spatio-temporal dual changepoint models for relating alcohol outlet destruction and changes in neighbourhood rates of assaultive violence

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About