Seasonal characteristics of crime: an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in London

Abstract Most types of crimes show seasonal fluctuations but the difference and similarity of the periodicity between different crimes are understudied. Interpreting the seasonality of different crime types and formulating clusters of crimes that share similar seasonal characteristics would help ide...

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Main Authors: Narushige Shiode, Shino Shiode, Hayato Nishi, Kimihiro Hino
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Springer 2023-05-01
Series:Computational Urban Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-023-00094-x
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author Narushige Shiode
Shino Shiode
Hayato Nishi
Kimihiro Hino
author_facet Narushige Shiode
Shino Shiode
Hayato Nishi
Kimihiro Hino
author_sort Narushige Shiode
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Most types of crimes show seasonal fluctuations but the difference and similarity of the periodicity between different crimes are understudied. Interpreting the seasonality of different crime types and formulating clusters of crimes that share similar seasonal characteristics would help identify the common underlying factors and revise the patterns of patrolling and monitoring to enable sustained management of the control strategies. This study proposes a new methodological framework for measuring similarities and differences in the timing of peaks and troughs, as well as the waveforms of different crimes. The method combines a Poisson state-space model with cluster analysis and multi-dimensional scaling. A case study using twelve types of crimes in London (2013–2020) demonstrated that the amplitude of the seasonal fluctuation identified by this method explained 95.2% of the similarity in their waveforms, while the timing of the peaks covered 87.5% of the variance in their seasonal fluctuation. The high predictability of the seasonal patterns of crimes as well as the stable categorisation of crimes with similar seasonal characteristics enable sustainable and measured planning of police resource allocation and, thereby, facilitates a more efficient management of the urban environment.
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spelling doaj.art-7b680a9b20b54c15a134f48dabe0ab7a2023-05-07T11:08:37ZengSpringerComputational Urban Science2730-68522023-05-013111410.1007/s43762-023-00094-xSeasonal characteristics of crime: an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in LondonNarushige Shiode0Shino Shiode1Hayato Nishi2Kimihiro Hino3Department of Geography, Geology and the Environment, Kingston UniversityDepartment of Geography, Birkbeck, University of London Graduate School of Social Data Science, Hitotsubashi UniversityDepartment of Urban Engineering, The University of TokyoAbstract Most types of crimes show seasonal fluctuations but the difference and similarity of the periodicity between different crimes are understudied. Interpreting the seasonality of different crime types and formulating clusters of crimes that share similar seasonal characteristics would help identify the common underlying factors and revise the patterns of patrolling and monitoring to enable sustained management of the control strategies. This study proposes a new methodological framework for measuring similarities and differences in the timing of peaks and troughs, as well as the waveforms of different crimes. The method combines a Poisson state-space model with cluster analysis and multi-dimensional scaling. A case study using twelve types of crimes in London (2013–2020) demonstrated that the amplitude of the seasonal fluctuation identified by this method explained 95.2% of the similarity in their waveforms, while the timing of the peaks covered 87.5% of the variance in their seasonal fluctuation. The high predictability of the seasonal patterns of crimes as well as the stable categorisation of crimes with similar seasonal characteristics enable sustainable and measured planning of police resource allocation and, thereby, facilitates a more efficient management of the urban environment.https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-023-00094-xCluster analysisCrime seasonalityMulti-dimensional scalingTrend analysisUrban sustainability
spellingShingle Narushige Shiode
Shino Shiode
Hayato Nishi
Kimihiro Hino
Seasonal characteristics of crime: an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in London
Computational Urban Science
Cluster analysis
Crime seasonality
Multi-dimensional scaling
Trend analysis
Urban sustainability
title Seasonal characteristics of crime: an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in London
title_full Seasonal characteristics of crime: an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in London
title_fullStr Seasonal characteristics of crime: an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in London
title_full_unstemmed Seasonal characteristics of crime: an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in London
title_short Seasonal characteristics of crime: an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in London
title_sort seasonal characteristics of crime an empirical investigation of the temporal fluctuation of the different types of crime in london
topic Cluster analysis
Crime seasonality
Multi-dimensional scaling
Trend analysis
Urban sustainability
url https://doi.org/10.1007/s43762-023-00094-x
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AT hayatonishi seasonalcharacteristicsofcrimeanempiricalinvestigationofthetemporalfluctuationofthedifferenttypesofcrimeinlondon
AT kimihirohino seasonalcharacteristicsofcrimeanempiricalinvestigationofthetemporalfluctuationofthedifferenttypesofcrimeinlondon