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Before You Are a Victim in Mexico: Police Strategies to Prevent Commercial Burglary Using Public Data

Author

Listed:
  • Antonio Petz

    (School of Social Sciences and Government, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey 64700, Mexico)

  • Miguel Alejandro Flores

    (School of Social Sciences and Government, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey 64700, Mexico)

Abstract

In a country where the majority of crimes remain unreported, uninvestigated, and unpunished, law enforcement faces considerable challenges in obtaining high-quality data that are consistent, reliable, and timely to effectively plan and deploy their strategies. By leveraging publicly available data, this paper identifies high-vulnerability areas for commercial burglary within the Metropolitan Area of Monterrey, utilizing a variable that incorporates the key dimensions of routine activity theory in criminology. This is accomplished by constructing an index through principal component analysis, followed by spatially grouping the resulting variable using the global indicator of spatial association (LISA). The results allow us to focus strategies to combat commercial burglary on 16.82% of the studied territory and establish an order of priorities to address the most vulnerable areas one by one. Also, the results allow us to implement prevention actions in broader zones by generating clusters around areas that share similar attributes.

Suggested Citation

  • Antonio Petz & Miguel Alejandro Flores, 2025. "Before You Are a Victim in Mexico: Police Strategies to Prevent Commercial Burglary Using Public Data," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-24, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:14:y:2025:i:5:p:314-:d:1660397
    as

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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Paolo Buonanno, 2003. "The Socioeconomic Determinants of Crime. A Review of the Literature," Working Papers 63, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised Nov 2003.
    2. Carlos Vilalta & Gustavo Fondevila, 2021. "Testing Routine Activity Theory in Mexico [‘Natural Surveillance Characteristics of Building Openings and Relationship to Residential Burglary’]," The British Journal of Criminology, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, vol. 61(3), pages 754-772.
    3. Elías Alvarado Lagunas & Danae Duana Ávila & Karina Valencia Sandoval, 2021. "Determinantes del gasto en seguridad como una forma de competitividad por micronegocio debido a la delincuencia. Un caso de estudio para el área metropolitana de Monterrey," Economía: teoría y práctica, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, México, vol. 55(2), pages 127-148, Julio-Dic.
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