NCJ Number
51937
Date Published
1977
Length
40 pages
Annotation
THE REPLACEMENT OF EASILY ACCESSIBLE STREETS WITH STREETS OF THE CUL-DE-SAC OR DEAD END DESIGN APPEARS TO BE A PROMISING STRATEGY FOR THE PREVENTION OF RESIDENTIAL CRIME.
Abstract
TO TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT RELATIVELY ACCESSIBLE STREET LAYOUTS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH RELATIVELY HIGH RATES OF RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY, A TWO-PHASE STUDY WAS CONDUCTED IN MINNEAPOLIS, MINN. THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY SUPPORT THE FOLLOWING CONCLUSIONS: INACCESSIBLE STREET LAYOUTS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH LOW RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY RATES; LOW RESIDENTIAL BURGLARY RATES ALONG LESS ACCESSIBLE STREETS DO NOT SEEM COUNTERED BY DISPLACEMENT OF BURGLARIES TO MORE ACCESSIBLE STREETS IN THE SAME TRACT; AND STREET DESIGNS ILL-SUITED FOR RESIDENTIAL BURGLARIES DO NOT SEEM CONDUCIVE TO OTHER CRIMES. THE STUDY ANALYZED STREET DESIGN AND BURGLARY RATES AT THE LEVELS OF INDIVIDUAL BLOCKS AND OF CENSUS TRACTS. THE INDIVIDUAL-BLOCK PHASE OF THE STUDY MEASURED THE ACCESSIBILITY OF STREETS AS DETERMINED BY THE NUMBER OF DIRECTIONS FROM WHICH A VEHICLE COULD ENTER OR LEAVE. STUDY BLOCKS WERE RANDOMLY SELECTED, AND THE NEAREST THROUGH BLOCK FEEDING TRAFFIC INTO THE STUDY BLOCK WAS SELECTED AS A CONTROL. THE RATE OF BURGLARIES OCCURRING IN BLOCKS OF THE CUL-DE-SAC, DEAD END, AND L-TYPE DESIGN WAS FOUND TO BE SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER THAN THE RATE IN THE CONTROL BLOCKS. IN THE CENSUS PHASE OF THE STUDY, REGRESSION ANALYSIS TECHNIQUES WERE USED TO COMPARE A BURGLARY RATE PREDICTED ON THE BASIS OF STREET LAYOUT, WITH THE ACTUAL BURGLARY RATE FOR THE TRACT. SOCIAL VARIABLES AND A PERMEABILITY VARIABLE WERE USED TO MEASURE LOCALLY COMMITTED CRIME AND GAUGE BARRIERS WHICH FORCE BURGLARS FROM STRAIGHT-LINE PATHS CONNECTING THEIR RESIDENCES WITH POTENTIAL CRIME SITES. HIGHLY PERMEABLE STREET LAYOUTS WERE SHOWN TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH BURGLARY RATES IN THE CENSUS-TRACT STUDY, BUT THE LACK OF PERMEABILITY WAS NOT SHOWN TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH HIGHER RATES OF OTHER CRIMES. THE PLACEMENT OF TRAFFIC DIVERTERS (E.G., CURBS OR FENCES) THAT WOULD REDUCE THE ACCESSIBILITY OF GRIDIRON-DESIGNED STREETS IS RECOMMENDED AS A METHOD FOR THE PREVENTION OF BURGLARIES. TABLES, MAPS, CHARTS, DIAGRAMS, FOOTNOTED REFERENCES, AND A LIST OF ADDITIONAL REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. PROPOSALS FOR EXPERIMENTAL USE OF DIVERTERS IN SELECTED TRACTS, DISCUSSION OF THE SOCIAL VARIABLES INVOLVED IN CRIME, AND DETAILS OF THE ANALYSIS OF STATISTICAL VARIABLES ARE APPENDED. (TWK).