Citation

Menéndez CK, Amandus HE, Damadi P, Wu N, Konda S, Hendricks SA. Am. J. Prev. Med. 2013; 45(1): 1-8.

Affiliation

Analysis and Field Evaluations Branch, Morgantown, West Virginia. Electronic address: CMenendez@cdc.gov.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.amepre.2013.02.017

PMID

23790983

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Taxicab drivers historically have had one of the highest work-related homicide rates of any occupation. In 2010 the taxicab driver homicide rate was 7.4 per 100,000 drivers, compared to the overall rate of 0.37 per 100,000 workers. PURPOSE: Evaluate the effectiveness of taxicab security cameras and partitions on citywide taxicab driver homicide rates. METHODS: Taxicab driver homicide rates were compared in 26 major cities in the U.S. licensing taxicabs with security cameras (n=8); bullet-resistant partitions (n=7); and cities where taxicabs were not equipped with either security cameras or partitions (n=11). News clippings of taxicab driver homicides and the number of licensed taxicabs by city were used to construct taxicab driver homicide rates spanning 15 years (1996-2010). Generalized estimating equations were constructed to model the Poisson-distributed homicide rates on city-specific safety equipment installation status, controlling for city homicide rate and the concurrent decline of homicide rates over time. Data were analyzed in 2012. RESULTS: Cities with cameras experienced a threefold reduction in taxicab driver homicides compared with control cities (RR=0.27; 95% CI=0.12, 0.61; p=0.002). There was no difference in homicide rates for cities with partitions compared with control cities (RR=1.15; 95% CI=0.80, 1.64; p=0.575). CONCLUSIONS: Municipal ordinances and company policies mandating security cameras appear to be highly effective in reducing taxicab driver deaths due to workplace violence.

Language: en