Relationship of Criminal Victimization, Police Per Capita and Population Density in Twenty-six Cities

• NCJ Number: 75850
• Journal: Journal of Criminal Justice Volume: 8 Issue: 5 Dated: (1980) Pages: 309-316
• Author(s): D Shichor; D L Decker; R M O'Brien
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Paper presented at the American Sociological Association, Boston, Massachusetts, August, 1979

Annotation

The relationship between the number of police per capita and population density as indicators of environmental control to criminal victimization rates in 26 large American central cities is examined.

Abstract

Research procedure focused on the relationship of the two environmental control indicators and victimization rates for 10 different types of crime: robbery with and without injury, personal larceny with and without contact, household burglary, household larceny, aggravated assault, simple assault, rapes, and motor vehicle theft. Using a typology that classifies these crimes as property crimes with contact, property crimes without contact, and nonproperty assaultive crimes, it is found that both the number of police per capita and population density are negatively related to property crimes without contact and nonproperty assaultive crimes. However, the number of police per capita (controlling for population density) is not related to property crimes with contact, while population density (controlling for number of police per capita) is positively related to these crimes. This finding suggests the possibility that increasing the size of police departments may be effective in reducing the rate of certain types of criminal offenses. However, the nature of the data used in this study; i.e., cross-sectional, aggregate-level data; makes any policy implications drawn from this study very tentative. Two tables and 44 references are provided.