Adolescent offenders' current whereabouts predict locations of their future crimes.

ABSTRACT: Knowing where crime is likely to happen can help prevent it. Here I investigate whether two basic mechanisms of human mobility-preferential return and spatial exploration-explain and predict where offenders commit future crimes. A sample of 843 adolescents reported their hourly whereabouts during four days. In line with findings from other sources and populations, their locations were concentrated and predictable. During the subsequent four years, 70 of the 843 were apprehended for committing one or more crimes. Compared to others, these 70 future offenders had visited slightly more different locations. However, their action radius and the predictability of their whereabouts had been very similar to those who would not become offenders. The offenders perpetrated most of their crimes around

SUBMITTER: Bernasco W 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6353130 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature