The Concentration and Stability of Gun Violence at Micro Places in Boston, 1980–2008

Braga, Anthony A.; Papachristos, Andrew V.; Hureau, David M.

doi:10.1007/s10940-009-9082-x

Cited by 386 publications

(271 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Our analysis was limited to aggregating data to the smallest administrative units of analysis, which are municipalities in Colombia. Geo-coding incidents to physical addresses or geo-coordinates is more optimal, as hot-spot density maps could be created to identify micro hot spots (Braga et al 2010; Groff et al 2010; Yang 2010) within municipalities such as a neighborhood, major road, or even a precise location where kidnappings have re-occurred in the past. Temporal analyses of K&R incidents should also examine the precise time of day, as crime research shows substantial variation throughout the day (Felson and Poulsen 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crime science and crime epidemics in developing countries: a reflection on kidnapping for ransom in Colombia, South America

2015

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Commonly, established nations are called upon to deal with crime epidemics in developing countries. This is particularly the case when the outside country has a vested interest in doing something about the foreign nation's problem. One noted example of this is the US funded Plan Colombia operation in South America which targeted organized crime and guerrilla groups through the development of the Colombian government's capacity to carry out direct offensive action, with a reported cost of over $8 billion. Yet, efforts by outside countries to establish and professionalize governmental agencies in underdeveloped countries as a means to combat crime epidemics requires an enormous investment in time and resources, things which are not always feasible. Through a retrospective examination of the kidnapping for ransom epidemic which occurred in Colombia, South America throughout the 2000s, this paper identifies the potential utility of the crime science approach as a cost effective and more direct strategy to deal with crime epidemics in developing countries. Implications and ideas for future applications are discussed.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Crime science and crime epidemics in developing countries: a reflection on kidnapping for ransom in Colombia, South America

2015

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“…However, there appears to be no accepted standard for choosing particular reference values of either X or Y, other than a slight tendency to fixate the value of Y at round numbers (different values of X and Y are chosen by, for example, Braga et al 2010;Curman et al 2015;Sherman et al 1989;Weisburd 2015;Weisburd and Amram 2014). The lack of a common yardstick complicates comparisons between studies, and thus hampers testing the law of crime concentration.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Indeed, a number of key results in the literature on the criminology of place are based on sparse crime data. Braga et al (2010) analyze the concentration of 7359 firearm incidents on 28,530 street units over a 29-year period. The authors point out that ''The fact that each year, on average, there are fewer than 254 ABDW-Firearm incidents among nearly 28,530 street units suggests that even a purely random distribution might produce the observed clustering''(p. 42).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

More Places than Crimes: Implications for Evaluating the Law of Crime Concentration at Place

2016

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Objectives The crime and place literature lacks a standard methodology for measuring and reporting crime concentration. We suggest that crime concentration be reported with the Lorenz curve and summarized with the Gini coefficient, and we propose generalized versions of the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient to correct for bias when crime data are sparse (i.e., fewer crimes than places).Methods The proposed generalizations are based on the principle that the observed crime concentration should not be compared with perfect equality, but with maximal equality given the data. The generalizations asymptotically approach the original Lorenz curve and the original Gini coefficient as the number of crimes approaches the number of spatial units.Results Using geocoded crime data on two types of crime in the city of The Hague, we show the differences between the original Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient and the generalized versions. We demonstrate that the generalizations provide a better representation of crime concentration in situations of sparse crime data, and that they improve comparisons of crime concentration if they are sparse.Conclusions Researchers are advised to use the generalized versions of the Lorenz curve and the Gini coefficient when reporting and summarizing crime concentration at places. When places outnumber crimes, the generalized versions better represent the underlying processes of crime concentration than the original versions. The generalized Lorenz curve, the Gini coefficient and its variance are easy to compute.

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“…Research by Braga, Papachristos, and Hureau (2010) looked at both homicides and nonfatal shooting 8 incidents in Boston over a 29-year period. Their work revealed that gun assaults followed the same patterns as homicides across micro-places.…”

Section: Rq: Are Nonfatal Shooting Victims Different Than Gun Homicidmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Difference Between Living and Dying: Victim Characteristics and Motive Among Nonfatal Shootings and Gun Homicides

Hipple

Magee

2017

Violence Vict

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Using both official and unofficial data sources, researchers examined nonfatal (n 5 617) and fatal shooting (n 5 159) victim characteristics over an 18-month period in Indianapolis. This research revealed that the typical shooting victim was male, non-White, almost 29 years old, had been arrested prior to inclusion in this study, and had been shot more than once. Interestingly, this research supports the notion that nonfatal shooting and homicide victims are different, especially as they relate to victim age, gunshot wound severity, and shooting motive. It highlights the need for better gun violence data collection beyond what currently exists. Striving for improved, more comprehensive cross-sector data collection has implications beyond just police policy and practice to include public health and prevention efforts.

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The Concentration and Stability of Gun Violence at Micro Places in Boston, 1980–2008

Cited by 386 publications

References 32 publications

Crime science and crime epidemics in developing countries: a reflection on kidnapping for ransom in Colombia, South America

Crime science and crime epidemics in developing countries: a reflection on kidnapping for ransom in Colombia, South America

More Places than Crimes: Implications for Evaluating the Law of Crime Concentration at Place

The Difference Between Living and Dying: Victim Characteristics and Motive Among Nonfatal Shootings and Gun Homicides

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