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Constructing crime: Neighborhood characteristics and police recording behavior

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  • Varano, Sean P.
  • Schafer, Joseph A.
  • Cancino, Jeffrey Michael
  • Swatt, Marc L.

Abstract

It has long been acknowledged that police officers have substantial levels of discretion in their day-to-day activities. There is a well developed body of literature that considers how this discretion is exercised across a broad array of situations including the decision to arrest, use force, and grant citizen requests for official action. Using both social disorganization and conflict theories as conceptual models, the purpose of this study was to determine if neighborhood characteristics affect police reporting behavior across a wide cross-section of reported call types. The findings indicated that reporting behavior widely varies across crime types with a greater percentage of more serious crimes translated into official crime. Neighborhood characteristics did affect reporting practices, but surprisingly only for more serious forms of disorder where discretion was perceived to be less. The findings lent support for both social disorganization and conflict theories. Theoretical implications are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Varano, Sean P. & Schafer, Joseph A. & Cancino, Jeffrey Michael & Swatt, Marc L., 2009. "Constructing crime: Neighborhood characteristics and police recording behavior," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 37(6), pages 553-563, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jcjust:v:37:y::i:6:p:553-563
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ramiro Martinez & Jacob I. Stowell & Jeffrey M. Cancino, 2008. "A Tale of Two Border Cities: Community Context, Ethnicity, and Homicide," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 89(1), pages 1-16, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Lauren Bock Mullins, 2016. "Can Teachers “Lean in†? Family Responsibilities Discrimination," SAGE Open, , vol. 6(1), pages 21582440166, February.
    2. Kleinepier, Tom & van Ham, Maarten, 2018. "The Temporal Dynamics of Neighborhood Disadvantage in Childhood and Subsequent Problem Behavior in Adolescence," IZA Discussion Papers 11397, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. LaBerge, Alyssa & Mason, Makayla & Sanders, Kaelyn, 2022. "Police dispatch times: The effects of neighborhood structural disadvantage," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Minxuan Lan & Lin Liu & Andres Hernandez & Weiyi Liu & Hanlin Zhou & Zengli Wang, 2019. "The Spillover Effect of Geotagged Tweets as a Measure of Ambient Population for Theft Crime," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, November.
    5. Sorg, Evan T. & Taylor, Ralph B., 2011. "Community-level impacts of temperature on urban street robbery," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 463-470.
    6. Swatt, Marc L. & Varano, Sean P. & Uchida, Craig D. & Solomon, Shellie E., 2013. "Fear of crime, incivilities, and collective efficacy in four Miami neighborhoods," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 1-11.
    7. Rylan Simpson & Carlena Orosco, 2021. "Re-assessing measurement error in police calls for service: Classifications of events by dispatchers and officers," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-19, December.

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