Mapping mayhem in the city?

Abstract

Mapping mayhem in the city? Exploring the space time dynamics of criminal damage and alcohol with Geovisualisation and ESDA.

This research examines if the combination of criminal damage and alcohol leads to mayhem in the city and if the attempt to examine this relationship using maps and number is a recipe for mayhem in itself. An exploratory spatial data analysis and geovisualisation approach has been found to be a practically adequate method to explore the dynamics of patterns of criminal damage in space and time. This research highlights the importance of considering crime patterns at both micro and meso spatial and temporal scales. Criminal damage is found to be differently distributed in both space and time, with particular concentrations in the centre of the city study area, at weekend and from 5pm to 2am. Using number and maps alone without a wider context of understanding of other policy initiatives may be insufficient to understand crime patterns; instead a mixed methods approach is recommended. Exploratory spatial analysis, geovisualisation and crime mapping are used to explore potential links between spatial and temporal alcohol availability and spatial and temporal patterns of criminal damage. Links appear inconclusive except in the city centre where there is a stronger relationship. A major government policy change to licensing law in England and Wales is shown to affect spatial and temporal distribution of criminal damage between midnight and 4am in the city centre. Crime pattern and temporal constraint theory offer practically adequate explanations of potential relationships between criminal damage and alcohol in a city centre. Further research to understand underlying processes is needed for a fuller picture.