This study examined the relationships between order maintenance arrests and violent crime across and within communities in a major metropolitan setting.
The present study examined the relationships between order maintenance arrests and violent crime across and within communities in a major metropolitan setting. Integrating the macro-deterrence and systemic model perspectives, the research tested the direct effects of vigorous disorder arrests on robbery and assault with a deadly weapon (i.e., violent street crime), as well as the interactive effects of Disorder Arrests Residential Integration (mobility and owner-occupied dwelling) on violent crime. The research found no direct relationship between disorder arrests and violent crime, but it found that disorder arrests in conjunction with decreased residential integration was associated with violent crime reductions. The results suggest that police disorder arrests may produce the strongest violence reduction results in areas of decreased residential attachment; however, as residential integration increases, the effects of order maintenance arrests on violent crime diminish. The study discusses the implications for shared social control agency in communities, as well as future research directions. Abstract published by arrangement with Sage Journals.