This article discusses an assessment of socioeconomic and opportunity characteristics of criminal offense locations at the micro level in Delaware, specifically noting the examination of drug arrest reports.
The journey to drug crime literature has found that, in cities, black people travel shorter distances from their homes before being arrested relative to white people. Per race and rationality theory, the racialization of space shapes the decision-making processes of people arrested for drug offenses. Because residential segregation patterns and racialized social structures differ across levels of urbanization, the research study reported here used negative binomial regression models to evaluate black-white differences in journeys to crime for drug possessions. The study assessed socioeconomic and opportunity characteristics of offense locations at the micro level using drug arrest reports across the State of Delaware. The authors found that travel distances and predictors of offense locations differed across geographic areas (i.e., small cities, suburban areas, small towns, rural areas, and touristic rural areas). A place’s racial composition, concentrated disadvantage, and opportunity characteristics differently impacted offense locations across geographic areas. As a result, the authors suggest that in studying journeys to crime, researchers should consider the various ways that race shapes constructions of crime and place across the rural-urban continuum. Publisher Abstract Provided