Simple indicators of crime and police: How big data can be used to reveal temporal patterns

This study demonstrates how temporal summary statistics can be a guiding tool for big data analyses to unravel temporal patterns of crime and police presence. Simple indicator statistics were used to identify temporal clusters of crimes and police presence, and to investigate potential links between the two. The methodology was applied on an anonymized police database, including reported crime events and police presence data, from a medium-sized European police department. The results illustrated that certain crime types occurred more during the day (e.g., burglaries), while others were more prevalent at night (e.g., drug crimes, motorbike and car theft). Police presence showed dispersed temporal patterns and little temporal focus on any type of crime. The research shows that temporal summary statistics can be used to support an explorative analysis of big datasets and guide subsequent spatiotemporal analyses of crime and police data. The summary statistics offer an accessible approach to analysing extensive datasets of policing activity and improving evidence-based policing strategies.

The impact of strict measures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic on the spatial pattern of the demand for police: case study Antwerp (Belgium).

COVID-19 impacts the daily lives of millions of people. This radical change in our daily activities affected many aspects of life, but acted as well as a natural experiment for research into the spatial distribution of 911 calls. We analyse the impact of the COVID-19 measures on the spatial pattern of police interventions. Crime is not uniformly distributed across street segments, but how does COVID-19 affect these spatial patterns? To this end, Gini coefficients are calculated and a proportion differences spatial point pattern test is applied to compare the similarity of the patterns of incidents before, during, and after the first lockdown in Antwerp, Belgium. With only essential mobility being allowed, the emergency call pattern has not significantly changed before, during or after this lockdown, however, a qualitative shift in police officer's daily work may have had an effect on the daily operation of the Antwerp police force.