Offender Travel in the Kingston Metropolitan Area, Jamaica

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 noncriminal 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. Social areas represent a higher level of aggregation – groupings of Special Areas on the basis of education, employment and age (Bailey, 2004; Knight and Davies 1978). The Downtown Zone along the waterfront is a broad zone encompassing the old commercial core severely affected by physical and frictional blight as well as Kingston’s inner city. There is a Transition Zone that comprises a mix of deteriorating older housing and commercial areas. The Suburban Residential Area is a complex of largely homogeneous middle-income housing estates quite distinct from the Middle/High Income Zone which is home to the elite and consisting of architecturally designed homes, town houses and up market gated communities. However, this zone also encloses small scattered pockets of poverty where the population is sufficiently concentrated to create analytical problems. Finally, there is the Uptown Low-Income Zone where conditions are very similar to those found in the inner city but is differentiated by its close proximity to the Middle/High Income Zone. Superimposed on this is a number of politically homogenous communities which are ‘militantly hostile’ to those adjacent communities that do not support their party. Most of these are found in the core area of the Downtown Zone. According to Harriott (2001), the poor economic conditions in Jamaica in the 1970s laid the foundation for the emergence of organised political violence, a struggle for ‘scarce benefits’ and the emergence of these politically homogeneous communities in the KMA. The political scene in the island is dominated by two parties, the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Peoples National Party (PNP) and the intense political violence transformed their urban strongholds into ‘garrison constituencies.’ This phrase was coined by the late political sociologist, Carl Stone, to describe constituencies in poor areas which are local seats of power and which, at all cost, must remain in the control of one of the two political parties (Headley, 1996). It is a community in which the possessions and indeed the life of anyone seeking to oppose, raise opposition to or organize against the dominant party would be in serious danger. Therefore, living in such a community while holding an opposing allegiance, is almost impossible. Any significant development within the community, whether it be social, political, economic or cultural must first have the approval of the leadership (local or national) of the dominant party. (Figueroa and Sieves, 2002). There are three ways in which garrison communities are formed (Chevannes, 1992). Houses in new developments may be awarded by supporters of the ruling party only. An existing community could also become homogenous by the forcing out of those with opposing loyalties. Supporters of the competing party are treated as a fifth column and are driven from the communities (Harriott, 2000). This type of behaviour usually precedes a general election. Finally, homogeneous communities are formed when those with opposing views switch allegiance. In cases where families are forced out, the formation of these communities is accompanied by extreme violence. The residents of these communities, with neither education nor skills are kept loyal to their political patrons by the distribution of ‘scarce benefits.’ The political party that holds the reins of government has greater control over these rewards and therefore it is in the interest of the residents of the communities they control to have their party in power as long as possible. Garrison communities However, although garrison communities may be politically homogeneous, internally they are fractured by the presence of numerous street gangs. Not all street gangs are criminal gangs. While individuals belonging to some gangs may engage in criminal activity the focus of the group may be on sports, marching bands and other bonding activities (Harriott, 2001). There are those gangs, however whose sole purpose is to engage in violent criminal activity and within these communities, the gangs usually occupy geographically distinct areas or ‘turfs’ which are defended fiercely. They may control a street corner, a street or several blocks. However, this type of fragmentation is found not only in garrison communities. Most low income communities in the KMA are internally fragmented very often along lines of political affiliation. What makes the situation in such communities explosive is that the fragments may be in receipt of material and other types of support from the large garrison communities in the core. This has the capacity to enlarge internal conflict in low income areas in the city (Bailey, et al. 2002; 2003). An appreciation of the fractured nature of the urban area is essential to an understanding of the pattern of offending as well as the travel pattern of offenders. METHODOLOGY Two official sources of criminal activity provided data for this paper. The first was the records of the Correctional Services Department for the years 2001 and 2002. The records supply very valuable information on those incarcerated for various offences – the addresses of offenders, their ages, occupations, employment status, as well as the place of their offences. As comprehensive as this information may be, it deals only with those who have been convicted for offences, and these offences form a small fraction of those committed within the KMA. Moreover, the clear-up rate for different crimes varies, and therefore Correctional Services Department data are not useful in estimating the relative importance of different types of crime. What makes the data useful is the fact that they provide information on both offender residence and the places where the offences were committed, and these allow the analysis of offender behaviour and the differentiation between those crimes that tend to be more outwardly and those that are more inwardly directed. The second source of official data was police statistics on crimes committed which, despite their limitations, give a better coverage of crimes committed and reported but, obviously, no information on the offenders. It is a record of reported offences. The digital technology of geographical information systems (GIS) has facilitated the analysis of offender travel in many developed countries. Progress in Jamaica has been slow partly because addresses are not given the 5 and 7 – digit codes in use elsewhere. Therefore, the laborious task of measuring distances on the 1:25000 map of the KMA had to be undertaken manually. The map provides street numbers and Euclidian or straight line distances between the offenders’ home addresses and the contact scenes were measured. Using this method 98 percent of the journeys to crime were measured and the average distances travelled were calculated for different types of crimes, by the age of the offenders as well to crime scenes in different social areas. For the larger study, focus group interviews were conducted in one inner city community in Kingston (which will be given the name, Lowinc), among two age cohorts. The 15 to 35 male age cohort represents the age group most prone to criminal activity in Jamaica. From the discussion with members of this cohort, it appears that at least two of the seven men who participated, were core gang members, as distinct from the rest who were loyal to, and supported the gangs who provided them with protection. The second group comprised an 8 to 10 male cohort selected from the primary school which served the community. These two groups gave insights into the motives for a range of activities taking place within the community. They interpreted movements and barriers to movements in fragmented inner city areas and the testimonies of the innocent young were particularly valuable. SERIOUS CRIMES Data on 600 persons convicted for 688 offences, their ages, the addresses of their homes and the contact scenes were obtained from the Corrections Department and Table 1 shows the relative importance of the offences for which convictions were obtained. Convictions for instrumental crimes were far more numerous than for expressive although the intensity of the latter is a more accurate barometer of the society’s perception of the status of crime and its level of anxiety. Table 1. Distribution of Offences, 2001‘02 Serious Crimes % Larceny 23.3 Robbery 17.0 Wounding 13.6 Sexual Offences 12.4 Burglary/Breaking 11.1 Murder 9.6 Shooting 7.6 Assault 5.4 N=688 The age of the offenders ranged from 16 -70. Seventy-nine percent of all those convicted were between the ages of 16 and 34. Those under the age of 20 constituted less than 1 percent of all those convicted while a mere 0.3 percent were 50 years and over. Table 2. Offending by Age Offence Average Age Range % 40 years and over Larceny 30.5 17 – 43 3.0 Robbery 26.5 18 – 35 0 Wounding 27.4 17 – 48 3.0 Sexual Offences 32.5 17 – 70 25.0 Burglary/Breaking 29.6 17 – 52 13.6 Murder 26.4 18 – 52 5.7 Shooting 23.4 16 – 35 0 Assault 23.1 18 – 47 9.9 Source: Corrections Department data The young tended to be associated with expressive crimes – crimes of passion. The average age of offenders was lowest for assault and shooting. The age profile for those committing sexual offences was highest. Of the eleven persons over the age of 50 who were convicted, 7 had been convicted for rape. TRAVEL TO CRIME Research in Britain and the USA (Phillips, 1980; Rhodes and Conley, 1981; Wiles and Costello, 2000) has generally shown that most crimes are committed relatively close to the offenders’ residences, although in many cases the distances that offenders are prepared to travel vary according to the type of crime. Consistent with these findings, the travel distances found in this study were also relatively short. Table 3. Travel to Crime Offences Distance (km) All Offences 1.70 Shooting 0.47 Sexual Offences 0.57 Wounding 1.06 Murder 1.30 Assault 1.97 Larceny 2.50 Burglary/Breaking 2.60 Burglary/Breaking – Shop 2.00 Burglary Breaking – House 2.95 Robbery 2.80 The average travel distance was1.7 km but a clear pattern can be discerned. Offenders tended to travel father to commit instrumental than expressive crimes. The short distances between offender residences and contact scenes for offences such as shooting and sexual offences explain the short average journey to crime. In so far as sexual offences were concerned, the offender residence and location of the crime were sometimes the same, and this is consistent with research findings that perpetrators are often family members or guardians (Lieb, Quinsey and Berliner, 1998). On average, the longest travel distances were recorded for robbery and house breakings. Some acts of burglary were committed up to 10 km from the home. A number of studies (Gabor and Gotheil 1984; Nichols, 1980; Phillips, 1980) has shown that there are variations in the distance travelled by offenders according to age. In general the young appear less willing to travel greater distances to commit crimes probably because of a more restricted activity space as a consequence of limited mobility. However, this relationship may be changing with the greater mobility of the young (Wiles and Costello, 2000). The findings of this study confirm the commonly held view of the relationship between travel-to-crime and age. The average travel distance of offenders below the age of 20 was 0.9 km. Those below the age of 25 were responsible for 54 percent of all journeys of less than 1 km although they formed only 32 percent of the offending population. When overall travel distances by age were examined by the nonparametric phi coefficient statistical test and the significance tested by chi square, the relationship was significant and positive (0.01). In so far as individual offences were concerned, the relationship was significant for rape and robbery (0.005), burglary and murder (0.01) and wounding (0.05) but not significant for shooting and larceny. Travel distances for shooting were short for all ages while for larceny, there was a slight tendency for the younger age groups to travel farther. So consistent with findings elsewhere, the distances travelled by perpetrators are generally short. In the KMA, this is partly the result of the local nature of expressive crimes. Also in keeping with previous studies is the finding that in general, young offenders travel shorter distances than their older counterparts.