Author

David Muenkel

Date of Award

7-2011

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

M.S.

Keywords

City of Denver, Colorado, Neighborhoods, Crime, Citizen calls, Police response

Department

Mathematics

First Advisor

Steven Hick

Second Advisor

Andrew Goetz

Abstract

The purpose of this project was to study crime in the City of Denver, Colorado and show how crime moves between neighborhoods over time. The study involved looking at crimes aggregated at the neighborhood level to determine how crime transitioned within the City of Denver from 2000 to 2010. The crime data was also compared with calls for service to determine how police activity and citizen reporting related to crime in the City of Denver. The results indicated that the City of Denver, while increasing in population from 554,636 in 2000 to 600,156 in 2010 had a reduction in the total number of reported crimes from 41,143 in 2000 to 37,340 in 2010 although there was fluctuation from year to year during this decade. The citizen and police response to crime indicated that at both the city and neighborhood level, increase in crime was typically coincident with an increase in citizen initiated calls for service, which resulted in a subsequent increase in police presence, quantified by police officer initiated calls for service. The resulting increase in police activity produced a reduced the number of crimes for the affected area, which coincided with a reduction in citizen calls. This suggests that calls for service initiated by a community are a leading indicator that crime is on the rise, and the subsequent police response reduces an area’s crime. This cause and effect relationship is evident at both the city and neighborhood level.

Comments

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