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Mapping Crime for Analytic Purposes: Location Quotients, Counts and Rates (From Crime Mapping and Crime Prevention, P 263-288, 1997, David Weisburd and Tom McEwen, eds. - See NCJ-170277)

NCJ Number
170286
Author(s)
P L Brantingham; P J Brantingham
Date Published
1997
Length
26 pages
Annotation
This chapter compares maps of violent crime across the cities of British Columbia using three crime measures: counts, rates and crime location quotients (LQCs).
Abstract
Crime can be analyzed and mapped in a number of different ways. The LQC, adapted from regional planning, provides views of crime patterns not obtained with the two more traditional measures of crime. The LQC estimates the mix of crimes rather than the prevalence of crime events, allowing the researcher to define what types of crimes dominate a given area, rather than focusing on the amount of crime that is present. It offers a way of understanding how one area is different from another for purposes of research and deployment of prevention and control resources. The LQC could be particularly important when studying crimes that are dependent on movement and activities, and allows researchers to incorporate socioeconomic data into crime figures. The LQC emphasizes the contextual view of crime, and illustrates the importance of developing new analytical tools for describing geographic crime patterns. Tables, figures, notes, references

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