Citation

Hepenstal S, Johnson SD. Crime Prev. Community Safety 2010; 12(4): 263-282.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2010, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group -- Palgrave-Macmillan)

DOI

10.1057/cpcs.2010.14

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Most crimes are known to cluster in space with a regularity that does not simply reflect the distribution of opportunities for that crime. Such findings inform both criminological understanding and crime reduction effort. In recent years, the robbery of cash-in-transit (CIT) custodians or vehicles has risen in the United Kingdom. However, to our knowledge, no systematic studies of the spatial distribution of CIT robbery exist. We therefore seek to fill this gap using data for London, UK. In the first instance patterns are analysed for the whole of the city. To provide more detailed analysis, a case study was conducted in one area identified as a hotspot. In that area, a survey was conducted to identify the actual distribution of potential CIT targets as well as the offence locations. The possible influence of the configuration of the street network was also examined. The findings suggest that CIT robbery clusters in space more than would be expected on the basis of the distribution of targets, and that the risk of CIT robbery is particularly acute around major intersections. The implications for criminological theory and crime prevention are discussed.

Keywords: cash-in-transit robbery; hotspots; Monte Carlo simulation; street network connectivity; crime pattern theory