NCJ Number
186757
Editor(s)
Adam Graycar
Date Published
2000
Length
6 pages
Annotation
This study found crime rates were highest in either highly accessible or very remote areas of Australia rather than in those areas in between.
Abstract
The analysis of crime levels in rural and urban areas involved data from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Western Australia. In addition, the analysis included the property offenses of residential break and enter, non-residential break and enter, and motor vehicle theft, as well as the violent offenses of armed and unarmed robbery. A technique known as poisson regression was used to fit a model where the outcome variable was the crime count in the different geographic areas. It was found distance from a service center played a crucial role in explaining crime levels in small to medium-sized localities. Small towns located relatively close to major urban centers tended to have crime rates as high as remote towns. In rural localities with less than 1,000 residents, however, geographic or service isolation did not necessarily play a role in shaping crime rates. In these locations, economic change and the ability to adapt, population exodus, and strength of community ties were key factors in determining crime rates. The author believes identifying factors that drive crime rates in regional Australia is critical to developing strategic approaches to crime prevention. 28 references, 1 note, 1 table, and 4 figures