Crime Dimension

Overview

Most empirical evidence finds that crime rates play a critical role in influencing community opinions of quality of life. High rates of crime create undesirable and unstable living environments. The Chesapeake crime dimension measures selected crime rates in each NSA and compares them to the rates for the city. By making a quantitative comparison between criminal activities in small geographic areas to the citywide rates, it is easier to gauge whether crime disproportionately affects an area. In this way, neighborhoods where criminal activity impacts quality of life can be better identified. The crime dimension results are presented on Figure 6.

Analytical Variables

• Category A Victim crime (serious offense against a person)
• Category A Non-victim crime (serious offense against property)
• Category B Crime (all other offenses not specified in Category A)

Description

• More than Average – NSAs with criminal activity above the city’s reported rate
• Average – NSAs exhibiting criminal activity around the city’s reported rate
• Less than Average – NSAs experiencing criminal activity below the city’s report rate

Results

• More than Average – 6 NSAs
• Average – 61 NSAs
• Less than Average – 50 NSAs

Figure 6
Crime Dimension Groupings