STREET CRIME AND STREET CULTURE*

Street Crime and Street Culture

A model of social interactions shows why and when reputation concerns may support an ‘underclass’ culture of street crime where the incentives for such behavior are otherwise weak. Those who do not gain from street crime directly nevertheless find it optimal to invest in violence and thereby build a reputation that will earn them deference from the rest of the community. Even when the fraction ...

Occupy Wall Street, Bay Street and the street nearest you.

The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives released a study in early January highlighting the growing income disparities between the richest and poorest Canadians. Income tax files from 2007 show that the average income of the top 1% of income earners was over $400,000 compared to about $44,000 for the average Canadian, almost a tenfold difference. Those who laboured at the minimum wage earned...

Community Investment and the Control of Street Crime

Cruising Abatement Project Reducing Street Cruising and Related Crime

THE PROBLEM: Santa Ana was plagued by the problem of street cruising. On Sunday evenings, up to 1,000 carloads of cruisers descended on a major thoroughfare to gather and socialize. The problem was exacerbated by use of drugs and alcohol and violent conflicts between rival street gangs. This problem resulted in serious adverse impact on neighborhoods and the police department's ability to deliv...

Evaluating the impact of a street barrier on urban crime.

OBJECTIVES Violence is a major urban public health problem in the United States. The impact of a physical barrier placed across a street in a public housing project to prevent street violence and drug activity was evaluated. METHODS Hartford Police Department data on violent and drug related crime incidence within the housing project containing the barrier were analyzed by use of a computeriz...