NCJ Number
228404
Journal
Criminology Volume: 47 Issue: 3 Dated: August 2009 Pages: 971-1008
Date Published
August 2009
Length
38 pages
Annotation
This article introduces the concept of a crime regime and provides data analysis tools to characterize how crime regimes can change over time.
Abstract
Crimes come bundled with a number of attributes. The mix of these attributes can change over time and space. This article suggests that the concept of a crime regime can provide some theoretical leverage for these matters, especially when combined with ways to think about how the bundle of attributes can change. Key tools include the use of principal components analysis to determine the dimensions of crime regimes, special scatter plots that help reveal the role of time, summary statistics to quantify crime regime patterns, and permutation procedures to examine the role of chance. These tools were used to analyze crime patterns for the city of Los Angeles during an 8-year period, focusing on the number of violent crimes over time and their potential lethality. Figures and references