Item – Theses Canada

​
OCLC number
1265302202
Link(s) to full text
LAC copy
Author
Castle, Ysabel,
Title
The potential influence of environmental variables on spatial and temporal crime patterns in a small Canadian city : a case study of North Bay, Ontario, using call-for-service data, 2015-2019
Degree
M.E.Sc. -- Nipissing University, 2021
Publisher
North Bay, Ontario : Nipissing University, Faculty of Arts & Science, 2021.
©2021
Description
1 online resource (x, 214 leaves)
Notes
Date on cover: "August 2021."
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Science.
Includes bibliographical references.
Abstract
The objectives of this study are two-fold, consisting of both aspatial and spatial components. The aspatial portion of the study seeks to determine the influences of weather and calendar variables on crime occurrence, while the spatial component seeks to explore spatial patterns of crime, and to assess the degree of similarity in these patterns across seasons. Both objectives are accomplished using five years of call for service data (2015 - 2019) from a small Northern Ontario city; North Bay. To accomplish the aspatial objective, a series of eight negative binomial regression models (one each for violent and property crime in each of the four seasons) were used to assess the relationships between crime, weather, and calendar variables. Equality of coefficient z tests, based on the model coefficients, were used to compare results between seasons. Based on the results of the models, relationships between the dependent and independent variables were found to differ significantly from season to season, and between crime types. Moreover, property crime appears to be influenced more by calendar variables than by weather variables, whereas the opposite relationship was observed for violent crime. For the spatial component of the study, exploratory data analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and kernel density mapping. Andresen's spatial point pattern test (SPPT) was then used to assess the degree of similarity between the seasonal patterns for each call type at four different spatial scales. While kernel density mapping appears to show different seasonal patterns for some crime types, the SPPT found no evidence of dissimilarity for any call type across the city as a whole. Where a degree of local dissimilarity exists, it is focused in only two areas of the city, one of which is the downtown core.
Other link(s)
tspace.library.utoronto.ca
hdl.handle.net
Subject
Crime and weather Research Ontario North Bay.
Criminal behavior Research Ontario North Bay.
Crime Ontario North Bay.
Crime Environmental aspects Ontario North Bay.
Criminal statistics Research Ontario North Bay.
Crime analysis Research Ontario North Bay.
Criminalité et temps (Météorologie) Recherche Ontario North Bay.
Statistiques criminelles Recherche Ontario North Bay.
Criminalité Analyse Recherche Ontario North Bay.
North Bay (Ont.)
Crime and weather Research Ontario North Bay
Criminal behavior Research Ontario North Bay
Crime Ontario North Bay
Crime Environmental aspects Ontario North Bay
Criminal statistics Research Ontario North Bay.
Crime analysis Research Ontario North Bay