Browsing by Author "Mokhuwa, Emily Dineo"

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    Police area structure and crime dynamics : investigating the city of Tshwane municipality
    (2014-12) Mokhuwa, Emily Dineo; Van Eeden, Amanda; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The impact crime has on neighbourhoods are an ever present feature in modern cities around the world. Neighbourhood structure and socio-economic conditions contribute to criminal activities, and may lead to increasing crime densities. An understanding of the distribution of crime in space can aid in an understanding of such relationships, and thus contribute to proactive policing and crime prevention strategies. The main aim of this study is to analyse the spatial patterns of six types of crime and to determine if there is any evidence of social disorganisation theory and routine activities theory in the police areas in Tshwane. This will be done through density calculations using methods such as Location Quotients of Crime (LQCs) and crime density calculations. Correlating the results with selected neighbourhood characteristics will then test social disorganisation theory and routine activities theory. Results from the study indicate that crime densities differ across police areas within Tshwane, but that the contact crimes are more prevalent in areas with poor socio-economic conditions. The correlation results indicate that that there are a link between areas with low social control areas and the social disorganisation theory. Similarly results indicated that population density correlated with crime in general, which is in agreement with the daily routine theory. The findings from this study could inform the Municipality’s crime fighting strategy in terms of resource distribution.