Analysis of the spatial distribution of crime in Canada: Summary of major trends - ARCHIVED

This paper summarizes the major trends in the series on the spatial analysis of crime conducted by the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics (CCJS) using geographic information system technology in Canadian cities. The main purpose of this analytical series was to explore the relationships between the distribution of crime and the demographic, socio economic and functional characteristics of neighbourhoods. Questions addressed include: How are police reported criminal incidents distributed across city neighbourhoods? Is the crime rate in a neighbourhood associated with factors that are specific to that neighbourhood, such as its demographic, socio-economic, housing and land use characteristics? Is the crime rate in a neighbourhood influenced by nearby neighbourhoods? These questions were explored using data from the 2001 Census of Population, the Incident-Based Uniform Crime Reporting Survey (UCR2), and land use data provided by the various cities.