Evaluating the Impact the Weekday Has on Near-Repeat Victimization: A Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Street Robberies in the City of Vienna, Austria

Abstract

Abstract:The near-repeat phenomenon refers to the increased risk of repeat victimization not only at the same location but at nearby locations up to a certain distance and for a certain time period. In recent research, near-repeat victimization has been repeatedly confirmed for different crime types such as burglaries or shootings. In this article the near-repeat phenomenon is analyzed for each day of the week separately. That is, the near-repeat pattern is evaluated for all consecutive Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, etc. included in the dataset. These consecutive weekdays represent the fictive set of consecutive dates to allow for spatial and temporal analysis of crime patterns. Using these principles, it is hypothesized that street robberies cluster in space and time and by the same day of the week. This research analyzes street robberies from 2009 to 2013 in Vienna, Austria. The overall research goal investigates whether near-repeat patterns of robberies exist by weekdays and in an additional step by time of day, and whether these near-repeat patterns differ from each other and from purely spatial patterns. The results of this research confirm the existence of near-repeat patterns by weekday and especially by time of day. Distinctive locations have been identified that differ greatly per weekday and time of day. Based on this information, law enforcement agencies in Austria can optimize strategic planning of police resources in combating robberies.

Analysis of Burglary Hot Spots and Near-Repeat Victimization in a Large Chinese City

“…Thus, the proportions of repeats and near-repeats are not distinguished here. According to exiting research, repeats contribute strongly to the formation of crime hot spots [31,49]. However, this proportion is not investigated here.…”

A Routine Activity Approach: Assessing Victimization by Gender in Transit Environments and Other Public Locations

“…Therefore, bus stops located near crime attracting environments such as bars, vacant/abandoned buildings, and derelict motels can contribute to a criminogenic environment where people are waiting for buses and consequently victimized (Loukaitou-Sideris, 1999). Because street robberies can cluster in time and space and occur in high traffic areas such as transit terminals (Glasner & Leitner, 2016) and areas surrounding bus stops have been identified as having higher rates of violent victimizations (Block & Davis, 1996;Caplan, et al, 2012), the concept of near-repeat victimization based on the closeness transit environments have to high risk locations can exacerbate an already criminogenic environment that are "risky facilities" to begin with (Clarke & Eck, 2007).…”

The Relationship between Near-Repeat Street Robbery and the Environment: Evidence from Malmö, Sweden

“…However, crime is concentrated not only in space, but also in time [12][13][14][15][16]. This is known as the near-repeat phenomenon and refers to a crime pattern, whereby one crime event is soon followed by a similar crime event at a nearby location [17][18][19].…”