Alcohol Outlets and Neighborhood Crime: A Longitudinal Analysis. (August 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: White, Garland F.; Gainey, Randy R.; Triplett, Ruth A.
• Is Part Of: Crime and delinquency. Volume 61:Number 6(2015)
• Page Start: 851
• Page End: 872
• Publication Date: 2015-08
• Subjects: alcohol outlets -- violent crime -- spatial analysis -- neighborhoods; Crime -- United States -- Periodicals; Juvenile delinquency -- United States -- Periodicals; 364.05
• DOI: 10.1177/0011128712466386
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0011-1287

Abstract

This article examines the relationship between the number of alcohol outlets in block groups and the number of incidents of street crimes in Norfolk, Virginia. Cross-sectional and longitudinal panel designs are used to explore the relationship. Results were corrected for spatial autocorrelation and controlled for variation in size of population, socioeconomic disadvantage, and a dummy variable for being the downtown area. The cross-sectional analysis revealed a strong relationship between the number of alcohol outlets and the number of street crimes for on-premises and off-premises outlets. A panel design was then used to examine the effects of newly established outlets on the change in the number of street crime events over three periods. All three panels showed significant relationships between the number of alcohol outlets and the number of street crime events controlling for prior levels of crime, socioeconomic disadvantage, population size, and a spatial lag.