NCJ Number
9918
Date Published
1973
Length
153 pages
Annotation
QUANTITATIVE DATA ON CRIMES, ARRESTS, AND CLEARANCES IN VENTURA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA, AND DEMOGRAPHIC CORRELATIONS AS GROUNDWORK FOR SUBSEQUENT TASKS.
Abstract
NARRATIVE SUMMARIES OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND CRIME PROFILES ARE PROVIDED, FOLLOWED BY IN-DEPTH STATISTICAL ANALYSES. SEVERAL COMPUTERIZED REGRESSION ANALYSIS PROCEDURES WERE USED IN ORDER TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT TO WHICH SPECIFIC CRIME RATES VARIED STATISTICALLY WITH DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS. USING DATA FROM 48 CENSUS TRACTS, 18 TYPES OF CRIME WERE ANALYZED IN TERMS OF 13 DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS. IT WAS FOUND THAT DEMOGRAPHIC DATA OF THE KIND FOUND IN THE DECENNIAL CENSUS COULD BE USED TO EXPLAIN AT LEAST SOME OF THE VARIATION IN CRIME RATE BETWEEN GEOGRAPHIC AREAS, ESPECIALLY IN TERMS OF CRIMES AGAINST PERSONS. THE MOST IMPORTANT DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ALL APPEARED TO RELATE TO ECONOMIC FACTORS-THE PROPORTION OF PEOPLE BELOW THE POVERTY LEVEL, THE EXTENT OF UNEMPLOYMENT, AND THE EXTENT OF MEXICAN-AMERICAN POPULATION. NUMEROUS TABLES, CHARTS, AND MAPS ILLUSTRATE THE DISCUSSION. APPENDED MATERIAL INCLUDES THE CRIME TYPE CLASSIFICATION SYSTEM USED IN THE STUDY AND DETAILS OF THE REGRESSION ANALYSIS.