Spatial de-concentration of fatal and nonfatal firearm violence in Boston, MA, 2007-2021.

ABSTRACT:

Background

It is a "law" of criminology that urban crime chronically recurs at the same microplaces (i.e., street segments and intersections). An influential study found high concentrations of firearm violence at microplaces in Boston, MA, from 1980 to 2008. The current study assessed whether this strong spatial concentration has persisted.

Approach

Fatal and nonfatal shooting incidents with one or more victims from January 2007 through September 2021 were included, obtained from the Boston Police Department. We matched shootings to the closest microplaces, i.e., intersections and street segments in Boston (n = 32,267). We operationalized spatial concentration as the probability of shootings occurring at the same microplace. We employed a case-only design, with shootings as

SUBMITTER: Shareef F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11931767 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature