Offender Travel in the Kingston Metropolitan Area, Jamaica
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OFFENDER TRAVEL IN THE KINGSTON METROPOLITAN AREA, JAMAICA Corin Bailey, Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Research, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill, Barbados OFFENDER TRAVEL IN THE KINGSTON METROPOLITAN AREA, JAMAICA Abstract Traditional crime management strategies have done little to reduce the high levels of violent crime in Jamaica. The paper analyses offender travel patterns, arguing that this knowledge presents opportunities for the prevention of specific crimes or the control of crimes in specific areas. Using official statistics on crime, supported by the testimonies of males in a depressed inner city community, the paper shows that travel distances are short especially for young offenders and for expressive crimes. This is explained by a number of factors. The spatial configuration of social areas is such that middle and high income areas are in close proximity low income areas where most offenders live. Low income areas are subdivided along the lines of political affiliation and internally by the turfs of rival gangs. These are the scenes of violent criminal activity and the subdivisions present formidable barriers to travel. Patterns of travel and offending can be used as the basis for the adoption of micro scale crime management strategies. OFENDER TRAVEL IN THE KINGSTON METROPOLITAN AREA, JAMAICA INTRODUCTION The island of Jamaica has been established as being among those countries with the highest rates of violent crime when crime statistics are standardized for population size. For most of the 1990s and the early years of this century the rate has hovered around 40 per 100,000 and in so far as the Kingston Metropolitan Area (KMA) is concerned the rate is roughly seven times that of London (Bailey, 2004). Generally, those living in the inner city and other depressed areas within the KMA are more likely than others to become victims of crime. For example, with roughly 40 percent of the population of the KMA, inner city areas were the scene of 68 percent of all the homicides committed in 2000 (Bailey, 2004). Until recently, the most favoured approach to the crime control was the traditional reactive style, designed to detect rather than prevent crime and to enforce order (Harriott, 2000). There was reliance on special operations – Operation Ardent, Glock, Relocate - under which legal instruments were invoked to support the targeting of crime prone urban communities (Planning Institute of Jamaica, 1993: 1994). These employed tough strategies such as curfews, cordons, stop and search, random detentions of the young, and were responsible for the alienation of the targeted communities. Half-hearted non- criminal justice approaches have also been tried. The Home Guard and Neighbourhood Watch programmes were both informed by the methods of situational crime prevention – crime prevention by the modification of the environment or the setting in which offenders operate (Eck and Weisburd, 1995; Felsen and Clarke, 1998). However, crime rates continue to oscillate around very high levels. One of the concerns of the society is the possibility that approaches which target specific communities can lead to spatial displacement, shifting crimes to areas that are not the focus of crime control measures. Gabor (1990) views displacement as the result of effective measures of crime control. There is no hard evidence from the island to suggest that this has actually occurred but this has common sense appeal. However, the results of Hessling’s review of the literature on crime displacement shows that while displacement is possible, it is not inevitable and if it does occur it is limited in size and scope (Hessling, 1995). For there to be significant displacement of crime, offenders have to be prepared to change there travel pattern; they have to be prepared to travel to other areas where opportunities for crime exist and research has shown that although there are some criminals who are prepared to travel long distances to offend, in general, they do not go far beyond the areas they know (Felsen and Clarke, 1998). It appears that the distance travelled from home to the scenes of crimes are very short. If this can be demonstrated, crime prevention in the KMA in Jamaica could be based on the travel patterns of offenders. Evidence-based practices targeting particular offences or victims that are concentrated in specific areas could reduce these crimes which should not then be displaced outside the offenders’ normal awareness space. Travel patterns could be one of the tools employed in effective crime prevention. OBJECTIVES The paper focuses on offender travel in the KMA, Jamaica, and examines the extent to which there is spatial exploration by offenders for criminal activity. It is part of a larger study which employed methodological triangulation to measure the effect of social exclusion on patterns of crime in communities of differing socio-economic characteristics in the KMA. This paper explores travel patterns for serious crimes and since most serious crimes are committed by men, the emphasis is on male offending. Travel patterns are examined against the background of the city’s social structure and atomised geographical space and the paper argues that this geographical reality has the most profound effect on both the direction and the distance offenders are prepare to travel. LITERATURE REVIEW Within the last few decades there has been increasing interest in the journey that offenders are prepared to make in order to commit crimes and criminals are being presented as making rational decisions in response to opportunities for crime. Three perspectives have emerged which, it is argued, together both explain criminal action and assist in the formulation of crime control policy (Felsen and Clarke, 1998). These perspectives are rational choice which assumes that offending is purposive behaviour and that offenders select targets in a manner that can be explained; routine activities, which state that offences represent the confluence of three crucial components – a motivated offender, a suitable target and the absence of a capable guardian, that is, people who could protect the target and crime pattern theory which focuses on how offenders move in space and time. It assumes that criminal activity is related to the offenders’ daily rhythm of activity (Brantingham and Brantingham, 1991). According to these perspectives, as offenders engage in routine activities they become aware of possible targets. They make a reasoned assessment of their chances of success, the possible rewards and most of their offending takes place within this confined, familiar, geographical space. Brantingham and Brantingham (1984) sum up one of the main principles underlying opportunity and crime. If several potential targets exist, all things being equal, the offender will select the closest. As a result, offenders make more short than long trips in their journeys to crime. Although some studies show that criminals travel relatively long distances to commit property crime, the most consistent finding has been that offenders do not appear to travel very far from their place of residence. Wiles and Costello (2000) in a review of a number of studies done in the USA, showed that distances travelled varied from 0.35 miles in Ottawa, Canada to 2.48 miles in Akron Ohio. Most commonly they travel an average distance of about 2.1 km. Their own analysis of data from the Yorkshire police forces as well as interviews of offenders confirmed the pattern of short travel distances (Wiles and Costello, 2000). But Brantingham and Brantingham (1981) observed that offenders may avoid targets in the immediate vicinity of their homes. This is a psychological safety or buffer zone, an area within which the offender fears identification. However empirical evidence suggests that there are variations in offender travel by age and type of crime. Young offenders are more likely to commit crimes in their home area (Gabor and Gotheil, 1984; Nichols, 1980; Philips, 1980). It has been suggested that this may be explained by the greater mobility of adults. But Wiles and Costello (2000) argue that with increased access to legitimate car use as well as an increase in auto theft in Britain, this relationship between age and distance may be breaking down. Offender mobility studies also show that violent crimes are committed closer to home than ‘instrumental crimes such as burglary. These are ‘emotive’ crimes that do not involve planning and usually occur after offender/victim interaction (Brantingham and Brantingham, 1984; Philips, 1980; Rhodes and Conley, 1981). The results of these studies are interpreted as evidence for deliberate target selection, a conclusion supported by the results of some of the research based on interviews with convicted offenders. Interviewees reported that they had either travelled with the intention of offending or had taken advantage of opportunities which presented themselves during their routine activities (Cromwell Olson and Avery, 1991; Wiles and Costello, 2000 ). But Wiles and Costello (2000) reported differences in decision making according to the type of offence. They also noted that as short as travel distances based on police data may be, they over estimate the actual distances travelled by offenders since these do not take into consideration alternative anchor points (Wiles and Costello, 2000). Notwithstanding, interviews confirm that patterns of travel can be established using police data and this presents opportunities for the prevention of specific offences in specific locations. This paper extends the discussion of offender travel, incorporating a neglected area in crime research (Eck and Weisburd, 1995), that is, the link between the distances travelled and the social structure of the city. BACKGROUND The KMA is severely segmented and the fragmentation occurs at several spatial scales. Figure 1 shows the subdivisions into social areas (Bailey, 2004). These social areas are groupings of the Special Areas defined by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) as neighbourhoods sharing similar social and economic characteristics. In 2000, there were over 100 of these Special Areas in the KMA.