Micro-place Homicide Patterns in Chicago: 1965 - 2017

This brief examines 36,263 homicides in Chicago over a 53-year study period, 1965 through 2017, at micro place grid cells of 150 by 150 meters. This study shows not only long-term historical patterns of homicides in Chicago, but also places that historical context of homicide in reference to the dramatic increases in homicides in 2016-2017. It uses several different inequality metrics, as well as kernel density maps to demonstrate that homicides were more clustered in the 1960’s compared to later periods. Using zero inflated group-based trajectory models, it demonstrates the long-term temporal stability of homicides at micro places. This brief will be of interest to researchers in policing, homicide, and research methods in criminology.

Andrew P. Wheeler is an Assistant Professor of Criminology at the University of Texas at Dallas in the School of Economic, Political, and Policy Sciences. He received his doctoral degree in criminal justice from the University at Albany SUNY. His research focuses on the spatial analysis of crime at micro places, evaluating police interventions to reduce crime, and practical problems faced by crime analysts. His recent work has been published in the Journal of Quantitative Criminology, Cartography and Geographic Information Sciences, the International Journal of Police Science and Management, and the Journal of Investigative Psychology and Offender Profiling.

Christopher R. Herrmann is an Assistant Professor in the Law and Police Science Department at CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice (NYC). He earned his doctoral degree at the CUNY Graduate Center in New York City – specializing in crime analysis and crime mapping. Dr. Herrmann is a former Crime AnalystSupervisor with the New York City Police Department where he worked on crime prevention and control strategies, officer and resource allocation, and research of longitudinal crime trends throughout New York City. His current research interests include the study of crime at micro-levels using GIS and spatiotemporal relationships of crime. He is currently working on the complex relationships between public housing, public transit and violent crime. Dr. Herrmann is also working with the new interdisciplinary gun violence task force, 'States for Gun Safety', on data analysis of firearm-involved incidents and evidence-based policy.

Richard L. Block is a professor of Sociology and Criminal Justice at Loyola University Chicago. He has been studying the relationship between crime and community for the last 35 years. He was twice awarded Fulbright Fellowships and is the founder of the Homicide Research Working Group. He is widely recognized for his work in the development ofgeographic information systems (GIS) for crime analysis and database management. He participated in the development of the ICAM computer mapping facility of the Chicago Police Department and has advised many other departments on computer mapping and the spatial analysis of crime patterns. His current research includes the characteristics of space and place, such as rapid transit stations and specific housing complexes, that lead to increased risk of crime, the routes traveled by offender and victim in violent crime incidents, development of new techniques for cluster analysis and visualization of crime patterns, and the application of GIS techniques to study environmental stressors related to breast cancer.