Measuring the Geographical Displacement and Diffusion of Benefit Effects of Crime Prevention Activity

• NCJ Number: 202008
• Journal: Journal of Quantitative Criminology Volume: 19 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2003 Pages: 275-301
• Author(s): Kate J. Bowers; Shane D. Johnson
• Editor(s): David McDowall
• Date Published: September 2003
• Length: 27 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: Great Britain Home Office
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This paper discusses a new technique, the Weighted Displacement Quotient (WDQ), developed to measure the geographical displacement of crime.

Abstract

Crime displacement is one of the most significant potential negative consequences of crime reduction schemes, whether aimed at well-defined geographical locations or specific population groups. This paper will focus on a new type of crime displacement, that of the geographical displacement of crime, concentrating on the displacement of residential burglary. The statistical technique, Weighted Displacement Quotient (WDQ), was developed to measure displacement. The WDQ is fairly simple to implement and flexible enough to allow analyses to be conducted using either aggregate or disaggregate data at almost any unit of analysis. However, there are several issues using such displacement measures which should be raised: (1) the extent to which it is possible to attribute changes in crime in surrounding areas to crime prevention activity within a specified area; (2) the real meaning of project boundaries from crime prevention schemes; (3) the direction of displacement; (4) the dependency of the approach on the nature of the control area(s) used in the construction of the displacement measure; and (5) the longevity of any displacement effect. The WDQ technique does provide a systematic way of measuring the geographical displacement of crime used in a variety of datasets and controls for attribution failure. Figures and references