NCJ Number
76069
Journal
American Behavioral Scientist Volume: 20 Issue: 2 Dated: (November/December 1976) Pages: 227-246
Date Published
1976
Length
20 pages
Annotation
The results are reported of an investigation in Tallahassee, Fla. of the influence of physical environmental factors such as access to transportation routes, amount of adjacent vehicular traffic, and neighborhood characteristics on convenience store armed robbery.
Abstract
Traffic was counted or estimated on streets within two blocks of the stores, and neighborhoods were assessed to determine the proximity of major transportation routes, residential or commercial characteristics, and whether the store was in a built up or vacant lot area. All of the stores were similar in layout and design; no effort was made to control for operating hours. Analyzed were 39 stores, classified as having been robbed three or more times or as having never been robbed ro robbed only once or twice. Proximity to major transportation routes had no significant effect on robbery incidence. A total of 91.6 percent of the stores which were robbed 3 or more times were located on streets carrying light traffic (less than 10,000 cars in 24 hours). Stores located in residential areas or vacant land areas were not robbed more frequently than stores elsewhere. Stores located in areas with few surrounding commercial facilities were also no more likely to be robbed than those in heavily commercial areas. While none of these factors were of overriding significance when considered independently, they produced a significant interactive effect. Of the 12 stores robbed more than 3 times, 9 were located near a major transportation route, on a lightly-traveled street, in a residential or vacant land use area, and in an area with less than two other commercial activities. The addresses of stores included in the study are given, and 10 references are provided.