Residents, Employees and Visitors: Effects of Three Types of Ambient Population on Theft on Weekdays and Weekends in Beijing, China

This study considers the heterogeneity of the ambient population by distinguishing residents, employees and visitors as different categories, and explores their differential impact on thefts, both on weekdays and weekends.MethodsWe analyze one-year of police recorded thefts across 2104 1  km2 grid cells in a central area in Beijing, China. Controlling for the effects of attractiveness, accessibility, and guardianship, we estimate a series of negative binominal models to investigate the differential effects of the three groups (residents, employees and visitors) in the ambient population on crime frequencies, both on weekdays and during weekends and holidays.ResultsOverall, larger ambient populations imply larger theft frequencies. The effect of visitors is stronger than the effects of residents and employees. The effects of residents and employees vary over the course of the week. On weekdays, the presence of residents is more important, while the reverse holds true during weekends and holidays.DiscussionThe effects of ambient population on thefts vary by its composition in terms of social roles. The larger role of visitors is presumably because in addition to being potential victims, residents and employees may also exercise informal social control. In addition, they spend more time indoors than where risk of theft is lower, while visitors might spend more time outdoors and may also bring about greater anonymity and weaken informal social control.
Source: Journal of Quantitative Criminology - Category: Criminology Source Type: research