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The purpose of this paper is to examine how the combined crime rate and staffing levels of a patrol area affect patrol officers’ productivity. Specifically, the author identified and analyzed two macro-level correlates of patrol officer productivity: reported violent crimes per officer and reported property crimes per officer (a beat’s “crime-to-cop” ratios).

Using hierarchical linear modeling, the author estimated the effects of a patrol area’s violent crimes per officer ratio and property crimes per officer ratio on the annual number of traffic citations, warrants, misdemeanor arrests, and felony arrests generated by patrol officers (n=302). The author also examined the effect of these crime-to-cop ratios on a more advanced productivity metric.

The results suggest that a patrol area’s rate of property crimes per officer is associated with a moderate decrease in an officer’s annual number of traffic citations, warrant arrests, and misdemeanor arrests; a patrol area’s rate of violent crimes per officer is also associated with a moderate decrease in an officer’s annual number of traffic citations; and a patrol area’s rate of violent crimes per officer is associated with a moderate increase in an officer’s annual number of warrant and misdemeanor arrests. Notably, the crime-to-cop ratios are not correlated with a more sophisticated patrol productivity metric.

The author analyzed data from a mid-sized US police department that uses a generalists policing style. It is unknown if these results translate to smaller or larger police departments, as well as those agencies practicing a specialized policing style.

The findings suggest that police scholars should not only recognize how the crime-to-cop ratios of a patrol area might impact patrol officer productivity, but also incorporate more sophisticated metrics of patrol officer activity in future studies. These findings likewise signal to police practitioners that an area’s crime-to-cop ratios should be considered when allocating officers and other resources across patrol areas.

To the authors knowledge, this is the first study to identify and examine the link between a patrol area’s crime-to-cop ratios and patrol officer productivity.

Criminology has produced more than a century of informative research on the social correlates of criminal behavior. Recently, a growing body of theoretical and empirical work has begun to apply evolutionary principles, particularly from life history theory (LHT), to the study of crime. As this body of research continues to grow, it is important that work in this area synthesizes evolutionary principles with the decades of sociological research on the correlates of crime. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The current paper reviews the brief history of research applying life history concepts to criminology, providing an overview of the underlying framework, exploring examples of empirically testable and tested hypotheses that have been derived from the theory, discussing cautions and criticisms of life history research, and discussing how this area of research can be further integrated with existing theory.

A growing body of research has, with relative consistency, associated indicators of a faster life history strategy with aggression and violence in humans and across the animal kingdom. Research into these associations is still vulnerable to genetic confounding and more research with genetically sensitive designs is needed. The use of hypotheses informed by evolutionary insight and tested with genetically sensitive designs provides the best option for understanding how environmental factors can have an impact on violent and criminal behavior.

The current paper provides an updated review of the growing application of LHT to the study of human behavior and acknowledges criticisms and areas of concern that need to be considered when forming hypotheses for research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the complex constellation of underlying factors between community policing and fear of crime by embracing various exogenous variables identified through accumulated empirical research. Another important purpose of the current study is to examine the association between community policing and fear of crime in the Korean context.

The data originated from a survey administrated by the Korean Institution of Criminology in the area of Seoul, South Korea, in an attempt to examine citizens’ fear of crime, perceptions of public safety and environment. Using a stratified sampling method, a total of 654 respondents were selected. Structural equation modeling was used to examine direct and indirect relationships among exogenous and endogenous variables and to test the authors’ hypothesized structural model of the citizen's fear of crime.

The current study found that the four proposed models between community policing and fear of crime were not supported in the Korean context. Neither direct nor indirect relationships between community policing and fear of crime were statistically significant. On the other hand, community policing was found to be significantly and indirectly associated with perceived risk of crime; those who more perceived community policing activities felt a greater risk of crime. A logical explanation for these findings requires understanding of the characteristics of community policing practice and the unique crime environment in South Korea.

This study shows unique characteristics in the community policing‐fear of crime nexus in Korean society in relation to the implementation of community policing, the level of fear of crime and perception of community‐based crime control.

Purpose – This chapter explains what is known about international homicide trends, highlights gaps in existing literature, and proposes avenues for future research that will expand understanding about international homicide.

Design/methodology/approach – We review extant literature on international homicide trends, and draw on data from the World Health Organization from 1990 to 2015 to identify patterns in contemporary international homicide trends.

Findings – We demonstrate evidence of an international homicide drop across most regions around the world. Nonetheless, the homicide decline is not a global event as several countries – particularly countries with high homicide rates – did not experience reductions in homicide during this period. The key question remains as to what the causes of changes in international homicide rates are and why many countries experience very similar reductions in homicide while a few experienced increasing violence. We propose potential explanations and suggest areas for future research.

Originality/value – This chapter documents an international homicide decline occurring between 1990 and 2015. We also demonstrate that homicide trends are likely influenced by factors beyond local phenomena and domestic policies since homicide rates largely track together for regions throughout the world. Accordingly, the chapter suggests potential avenues for future research that can help better explain this trend.

Sexual sadism is a well-known risk factor for severe forms of sexual violence including sexual homicide and serial sexual homicide. The research is decidedly mixed about the association between sexual sadism and other, nonsexual forms of criminal conduct. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Drawing on data from a census of 225 federal sex offenders from a jurisdiction in the Midwestern USA, the current study examined whether sexual sadism had a spillover effect into nonsexual crimes using correlation, ANOVA, and negative binomial regression models.

Sexual sadism was strongly associated with diverse forms of nonsexual criminal behavior, and sexual sadists had more extensive and versatile criminal careers than sex offenders without a formal diagnosis.

Practitioners should be aware of sexual sadism as a criminogenic risk factor. Sexual sadism is associated with sexual deviance and sexual violence. Sexual sadism also has spillover effects where it is associated with nonsexual offending.

Sexual sadism can be a useful risk factor for other forms of crime and recidivism and has broad application in applied correctional and research settings.

Although many studies have examined the correlates of homicide clearance rates, few analyses have examined the factors related to the clearance of burglary offenses. The purpose of this paper is to address several gaps in the literature to determine if burglary clearance rates are due to discretionary, non-discretionary, and/or neighborhood contextual factors.

Data are analyzed from more than 10,000 burglary incidents in Philadelphia from 2010 using multilevel models to simultaneously test for the influence of multiple perspectives of the factors of crime clearance.

The results indicate that variables representing broken windows enforcement, discretionary factors, and non-discretionary factors are related to the increased likelihood that burglaries are cleared, but processes associated with social disorganization within communities is not.

The findings contribute to the literature by showing that future examinations of the factors of burglary clearance should consider community contextual factors, and specifically, that broken windows police enforcement appears to be a more important predictor of burglary clearance than do factors related to social disorganization theory. As a result, it is suggested that law enforcement also consider their tactics regarding low-level offenses if they wish to address the clearance rate of burglaries.

This analysis is among the first to examine multiple perspectives of the factors of crime clearance on burglary incidents.

The purpose of this study is to identify potential changes in crime generators and attractors based on monthly models in a high-tourist destination.

A risk terrain modeling approach was used to assess spatial relationships between 27 crime generator and attractor types in Atlantic City, New Jersey with robbery occurrence for the 2015 calendar year. In total, 12 separate monthly models were run to identify changes in risk factors based on the month of the year.

Results indicated unique significant risk factors based on the month of the year. Over the warmer and summer months, there was a shift in environmental risk factors that falls in line with more of a change in routine activities for residents and tourists and related situational contexts for the crime.

The analytical approach used in the current study could be used by police departments and jurisdictions to understand types of crime generators and attractors influencing local crime occurrence. Subsequent analyses were used by Atlantic City Police Department to direct place-based policing efforts.

With growing crime and place research that accounts for temporal scales, the authors advance these endeavors by focusing on a tourist destination, Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the socioeconomic determinants of property crimes on convicted offenders in the Chilga district correctional institution (CDCI).

This study conducted a socioeconomic determinant of property crimes on convicted offenders using quantitative research. Respondents consisted of a random sample of 170 convicted offenders in CDCI. This study used descriptive statistics, logistic regression and Pearson correlations for analyzing the quantitative data in CDCI.

The results of the study showed that the age at first engagement, educational status, offender’s immediate economic situation and previous experience of the offender were the perceived reasons in one’s major property crime offending. However, average monthly income, peer effect and family structure (grown up with) were found to be non-perceived reasons. Youths who are unmarried, illiterate and unemployed offenders had over three times more probabilities of committing theft than robbery and burglary in the winter season, especially in February, because of the determinants of illiteracy and unemployment such as negligence for the future life. Furthermore, the convicted offenders who were illiterate, unemployed and raised by single parents have engaged in theft for the first time, but burglary and robbery by employed and literate offenders in more probable.

This paper takes a fresh perspective on knowledge about property crime and economic as well as criminological theories using various bodies of academic research. This paper’s insight will be helpful to fill the literature gaps; there are lot research studies with little investigations addressing to the issue of the determinants of property crime. It will also be useful for policymakers to mitigate the determinant of property crime.

Purpose – This chapter seeks to understand what occurred with five different types of crime among eight retail sectors during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020–2021 to allow retailers to respond to crime, risk, and loss.

Methodology/Approach – Data as reported by police in seven major US cities during the first six months of 2019, 2020, and 2021 were analyzed from a Routine Activities perspective.

Findings – The study results show that crime varied by type and location during COVID-19.

Originality/Value – This analysis provides the first examination of crime across several types and eight retail sectors.

Studies suggest that official crime statistics are more than a measure of criminal activity. Generated by police, crime figures also reflect the behavior and concerns of police. Our case study renders evidence to this argument. A national survey of the crime recording by police was conducted in China in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The results reveal significant under‐representation of crime in the police‐produced statistics and clearly identify the police as the source of errors. Our study presents the survey and examines the findings. We explore systemic and social factors that affect the underpresentation problem and assess possible impact of the findings on the police’s action in crime recording.