Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How Far to Travel? A Multilevel Analysis of the Residence-to-Crime Distance

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Quantitative Criminology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objectives

This study investigates whether individual- and area-level factors explain variation in the residence-to-crime distances (RC distance) for 10 offense types.

Methods

Five years of police data from Dallas, Texas, are analyzed using multilevel models (hierarchical-linear/multi-level modeling).

Results

Residence-to-crime distances for Dallas offenders varied notably across offense types. Although several area characteristics such as residential instability and concentrated immigration were associated with the overall variance in RC distance, neither these nor the individual-level characteristics used in our models explained the offense-type variance in the RC distance.

Conclusions

Although individual- and neighborhood-level factors did not explain substantial variation in RC distance across the various offenses, neighborhood-level factors explained a significant portion of neighborhood-level variance. Other finding included a curvilinear effect of age on RC distance. The salience of these findings and their implications for future research and offender travel theory are discussed.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andresen MA, Frank R, Felson M (2013) Age and the distance to crime. Criminol Crim Justice 14:314–333

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baldwin J, Bottoms AE (1976) The urban criminal. Tavistock, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Beauregard E, Rossmo DK (2008). Geographic profiling and analysis of the hunting process used by serial sex offenders. In St-Yves M, Tanguay M (eds) The psychology of criminal investigations: the search for the truth. (Trans: Miller J). Carswell, Toronto, pp 529–554 (Original work published 2007)

  • Beauregard E, Proulx J, Rossmo DK, Leclerc B, Allaire J-F (2007) Script analysis of the hunting process of serial sex offenders. Crim Justice Behav 34:1069–1084

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernasco W (2007) The usefulness of measuring spatial opportunity structures for tracking down offenders: a theoretical analysis of geographic offender profiling using simulation studies. Psychol Crime Law 13:155–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernasco W, Block R (2009) Where offenders choose to attack: a discrete choice model of robberies in Chicago. Criminology 7:93–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bernasco W, Nieuwbeerta P (2005) How do residential burglars select target areas? A new approach to the analysis of criminal location choice. Br J Criminol 44:296–315

    Google Scholar 

  • Bichler G, Schwartz J, Orosco C (2010) Delinquents on the move: examining subgroup travel variability. Crime Pattern Anal 3(1):14–37

    Google Scholar 

  • Boggs S (1965) Urban crime patterns. Am Sociol Rev 30:899–908

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bowers KJ, Johnson SD, Guerette RT, Summers L, Poynton S (2011) Spatial displacement and diffusion of benefits among geographically focused policing initiatives: a meta-analytical review. J Exp Criminol 7:347–374

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brantingham PJ, Brantingham PL (eds) (1981) Environmental criminology. Sage, Beverly Hills

    Google Scholar 

  • Brantingham PJ, Brantingham PL (1984) Patterns in crime. Macmillan, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Burgess EW (1925) The growth of the city. In: Park RE, Burgess EW, McKenzie RD (eds) The city. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Capone DL, Nichols WW Jr (1976) Urban structure and criminal mobility. Am Behav Sci 20:199–213

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chainey S, Austin B, Holland F (2001) London Borough of Harrow: insights into the analysis and patterns of offender journeys to crime. InfoTech Enterprises Europe, London

  • Chapin FS, Brazil RK (1969) Human activity systems in the metropolitan United States. Environ Behav 1:107–130

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke RV, Eck JE (2003) Become a problem-solving crime analyst: in 55 small steps. Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Cohen LE, Felson M (1979) Social change and crime rate trends: a routine activity approach. Am Sociol Rev 44:588–608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costello A, Wiles P (2001) GIS and the journey to crime: an analysis of patterns in South Yorkshire. In: Bowers K, Hirschfield A (eds) Mapping and analysing crime data: lessons from research and practice. Taylor and Francis, London, pp 27–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Cromwell PF, Olsen JN, Avary AW (1991) Breaking and entering: an ethnographic analysis of burglary. Sage, Newbury Park

    Google Scholar 

  • DeFrances CJ, Smith SK (1994) Crime and neighborhoods. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Washington

  • Deslauriers-Varin N, Beauregard E (2010) Victims’ routine activities and sex offenders’ target selection scripts: a latent class analysis. Sexual Abuse J Res Treat 22:315–342

    Google Scholar 

  • Eck JE (1992) Drug trips: drug offender mobility. In: Paper presented at the 44th American society of criminology annual meetings, New Orleans

  • Fritzon K (2001) An examination of the relationship between distance travelled and the motivational aspects of firesetting behavior. J Environ Psychol 21:45–60

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gabor T, Gottheil E (1984) Offender characteristics and spatial mobility: an empirical study and some policy implications. Can J Criminol 26:267–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Gatewood G (2001) A monograph on confidentiality and privacy in the U.S. Census. U. S. Bureau of the Census, Washington

  • González MC, Hidalgo CA, Barabási A-L (2008) Understanding individual human mobility patterns. Nature 453:779–782

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodchild MF (1987) Spatial autocorrelation. Geo Abstracts, Norwich

    Google Scholar 

  • Green M, Flowerdew R (1996) New evidence on the modifiable areal unit problem. In: Longley P, Batty M (eds) Spatial analysis: modelling in a GIS environment. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Groff ER, McEwen JT (2005) Disaggregating the journey to homicide. In: Wang F (ed) Geographic information systems and crime analysis. Idea Group, Hershey, pp 60–83

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Groff ER, McEwen JT (2006) Exploring the spatial configuration of places related to homicide events. Institute for Law and Justice: National Institute of Justice, Alexandria

  • Hägerstrand T (1970) What about people in regional science? Paper Reg Sci 24:7–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hanushek EA, Jackson JE, Kain JF (1974) Model specification, use of aggregate data, and the ecological correlation fallacy. Political Methodol 1:89–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Harries K (1999) Mapping crime: principles and practice. US Department of Justice, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Hawley AH (1950) Human ecology: a theory of community structure. Ronald Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Hayslett-McCall KL, Qiu F, Curtin KM, Chastain B, Schubert J, Carver V (2008) The simulation of the journey to residential burglary. In: Lui L, Eck J (eds) Artificial crime analysis systems: using computer simulations and geographic information systems. Idea Group Publishing, Hershey, pp 281–299

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Hesseling RBP (1992) Using data on offender mobility in ecological research. J Quant Criminol 8:95–112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hill B (2003) Journey to crime distances in Glendale, Arizona. Glendale Police Department. Glendale Police Department

  • Hirschi T, Gottfredson MR (1983) Age and the explanation of crime. Am J Sociol 89:552–584

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson SD, Summers L (2014) Testing ecological theories of offender spatial decision making using a discrete choice model. Crime Delinquency. doi:10.1177/0011128714540276

  • Lammers M (2014) Are arrested and non-arrested serial offenders different? A test of spatial offending patterns using DNA found at crime scenes. J Res Crime Delinq 51:143–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LeBeau JL (1987) Patterns of stranger and serial rape offending: factors distinguishing apprehended and at large offenders. J Crim Law Criminol 78:309–326

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leventhal T, Brooks-Gunn J (2000) The neighborhoods they live in: the effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychol Bull 126:309–337

  • Lind AW (1930) Some ecological patterns of community disorganization in Honolulu. Am J Sociol 36(2):206–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy T (2007) Spatial similarity and crime linkage in burglary modus operandi. Charles Stuart University, Canberra

    Google Scholar 

  • McIver JP (1981) Criminal mobility: a review of empirical studies. In Hakim S, Rengert GF (eds) Crime spillover. Sage, Beverly Hills

  • Morenoff JD, Sampson RJ (1997) Violent crime and the spatial dynamics of neighborhood transition: Chicago, 1970–1990. Soc Forces 76:31–64

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morrill RL (1965) The negro ghetto: problems and alternatives. Geogr Rev 98:221–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Morselli C, Royer M-N (2008) Criminal mobility and criminal achievement. J Res Crime Delinq 45:4–21

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nichols W (1980) Mental maps, social characteristics and criminal mobility. In: Georges-Abeyie D, Harries K (eds) Crime, a spatial perspective. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 156–166

    Google Scholar 

  • Odland J (1988) Spatial Autocorrelation. Sage university paper series on scientific geography, Newbury Park

    Google Scholar 

  • Osgood DW, Wilson JK, O’Malley PM, Bachman JG, Johnston LD (1996) Routine activities and individual deviant behavior. Am Sociol Rev 61:635–655

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ouimet M, Proulx J (1994) Spatial and temporal behaviour of pedophiles: their clinical usefulness as to the relapse prevention model. In: Paper presented at the meeting of the American Society of Criminology, Miami

  • Park RE, Burgess EW, McKenzie RD (1925[1967]) The City. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

  • Pettiway LE (1995) Copping crack: the travel behavior of crack users. Justice Q 12:499–524

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Phillips PD (1980) Characteristics and typology of the journey to crime. In: Georges-Abeyie DE, Harries KD (eds) Crime: a spatial perspective. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 167–180

    Google Scholar 

  • Pyle GF (1976) Spatial and temporal aspects of crime in Cleveland, Ohio. Am Behav Sci 20:175–198

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rand A (1986) Mobility triangles. In: Figlio RM, Hakim S, Rengert GF (eds) Metropolitan crime patterns. Criminal Justice Press, New York, pp 117–126

    Google Scholar 

  • Ratcliffe JH (2006) A temporal constraint theory to explain opportunity-based spatial offending patterns. J Res Crime Delinq 43:261–291

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raudenbush SW, Bryk AS (2002) Hierarchical linear models, 2nd edn. Sage, Thousand Oaks

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengert GF (1975) Some effects of being female on criminal spatial behavior. Pa Geographer 13:10–18

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengert GF (1996) The geography of illegal drugs. West View Press, Boulder

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengert GF (2004) Journey to crime. In: Bruinsma GJN, Elffers H, de Keijser J (eds) Punishment, places, and perpetrators: developments in criminology and criminal justice research. Willan Publishing, Portland

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengert GF, Lockwood B (2008) Geographical units of analysis and the analysis of crime. In: Weisburd D, Bruinsma GJN, Bernasco W (eds) Putting crime in its place. Spring-Verlag, New York, pp 109–122

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengert GF, Wasilchick J (1985) Suburban burglary: a time and place for everything. Charles C. Thomas, Springfield

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengert GF, Wasilchick J (2000) Suburban burglary: a tale of two suburbs. Thomas, Springfield

    Google Scholar 

  • Rengert GF, Piquero AR, Jones PR (1999) Distance decay reexamined. Criminology 37:427–446

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rengert GF, Ratcliff JH, Chakravorty S (2005) Policing illegal drug markets: geographic approaches to crime reduction. Criminal Justice Press, Monsey

  • Rhodes WM, Conly C (1981) Crime and mobility: an empirical study. In: Brantingham PL, Brantingham PJ (eds) Environmental criminology. Sage, Beverly Hills

    Google Scholar 

  • Robinson WS (1950) Ecological correlations and the behavior of individuals. Am Sociol Rev 15:351–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rose HM (1969) Social process in the city: Race and urban residential choice. Resource Paper 6. Association of American Geographers, Washington

  • Rossmo DK (2000) Geographic profiling. CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossmo DK (2005) A journey-to-crime meta-analysis. In: Paper presented at the American Society of Criminology, Toronto

  • Rossmo DK, Davies A, Patrick M (2004) Exploring the geo-demographic and distance relationships between stranger rapists and their offences (special interest series: paper 16). Research, Development and Statistics Directorate, Home Office, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Rossmo DK, Lu Y, Fang T (2012) Spatial-temporal crime paths. In: Andresen MA, Kinney JB (eds) Patterns, prevention, and geometry of crime. Routledge, London, pp 16–42

    Google Scholar 

  • Sampson RJ, Raudenbush SW, Earls FJ (1997) Neighborhoods and violent crime: a multilevel study of collective efficacy. Science 277:918–924

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sampson RJ, Morenoff JD, Earls FJ (1999) Beyond social capital: spatial dynamics of collective efficacy for children. Am Sociol Rev 64:633–660

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schmitz P, Cooper A, de Jong T, Rossmo DK (2014) Mapping criminal activity space. J Intell Anal (forthcoming)

  • Schwartz J, Ackerman J (2001) In search of a dependent variable: a comment on Avakame, 1998. Criminology 39:969–979

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shaw CR, Zorbaugh FM, McKay HD, Cottrell LS (1929) Delinquency areas: a study of the geographic distribution of school truants, juvenile delinquents, and adult offenders in Chicago. The University of Chicago press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith W, Bond JW, Townsley M (2009) Determining how journeys-to-crime vary: measuring inter- and intra-offender crime trip distributions. In: Weisburd D, Bernasco W, Bruinsma GJN (eds) Putting crime in its place: units of analysis in geographic criminology. Springer, New York, pp 217–236

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Snook B (2004) Individual differences in distance travelled by serial burglars. J Investig Psychol Offender Profiling 1:53–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson LK (1974) Spatial dispersion of intra-urban juvenile delinquency. J Geogr 73:20–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Summers L (2012) The role of place in outdoor serious violence. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of London, London

  • Taylor RB (1997) Social order and disorder of street blocks and neighborhoods: ecology, microecology, and the systemic model of social disorganization. J Res Crime Delinq 34:113–155

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thrasher F (1927) The gang: a study of 1313 gangs. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Tian M, Chen G (2006) Hierarchical linear regression models for conditional quantiles. Sci China, Ser A Math 49:1800–1815

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tilly N (1993) Understanding car parks, crime and CCTV: evaluation lessons from safer cities. Police Research Group: Crime Prevention Unit Series, Paper 42:33

  • Tita G, Griffiths E (2005) Traveling to violence: the case for a mobility-based spatial typology of homicide. J Res Crime Delinq 42:275–308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tobler WR (1970) A computer movie simulating urban growth in the Detroit region. Econ Geogr 46:234–240

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Topalin J (1992) The journey to rape. University of Surrey, England

    Google Scholar 

  • Townsley M, Birks D, Bernasco W, Ruiter S, Johnson SD, White G, Baum S (2014) Burglar target selection: a cross-national comparison. J Res Crime Delinq. doi:10.1177/0022427814541447

  • Turner S (1969) Delinquency and distance. In: Wolfgang ME, Sellin JT (eds) Delinquency: selected studies. Wiley, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Warren JI, Reboussin R, Hazelwood RR (1995) The geographic and temporal sequencing of serial rape. Government Printing Office (Federal Bureau of Investigation), Washington

  • Warren JI, Reboussin R, Hazelwood RR, Cummings A, Gibbs N, Trumbetta S (1998) Crime ccene and distance correlates of serial rape. J Quant Criminol 14:35–59

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weisburd D, Bruinsma GJN, Bernasco W (2008) Units of analysis in geographical criminology: historical development, critical issues, and open questions. In: Weisburd D, Bruinsma GJN, Bernasco W (eds) Putting crime in its place. Spring-Verlag, New York, pp 109–122

    Google Scholar 

  • White RC (1932) The relation of felonies to environmental factors in Indianapolis. Soc Forces 10:498–509

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiles P, Costello A (2000) The ‘Road to Nowhere’: the evidence for travelling criminals. Research, Development, and Statistics Directorate (Home Office), London

  • Wirth L (1928) The ghetto. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Wright RT, Decker SH (1994) Burglars on the job: streetlife and residential break-ins. Northeastern University Press, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Wrigley N, Holt T, Steel D, Tranmer M (1996) Analyzing, modelling, and resolving the ecological fallacy. In: Longley P, Batty M (eds) Spatial analysis: modelling in a GIS environment. Wiley, New York, pp 23–40

    Google Scholar 

  • Zipf GK (1949) Human behavior and the principle of least effort: an introduction to human ecology. Addison-Westley, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge Karen Hayslett-McCall for assistance with data analysis, and thank the anonymous reviewers for helpful critique and comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, 4214, Australia

    Jeffrey M. Ackerman

  2. School of Criminal Justice, Texas State University, San Marcos, TX, USA

    D. Kim Rossmo

Authors
  1. Jeffrey M. Ackerman
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. D. Kim Rossmo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jeffrey M. Ackerman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ackerman, J.M., Rossmo, D.K. How Far to Travel? A Multilevel Analysis of the Residence-to-Crime Distance. J Quant Criminol 31, 237–262 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-014-9232-7

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10940-014-9232-7

Keywords

Search

Navigation