Year: 2015
Type: dissertation
Abstract: With a population of over 200,000 and an average homicide rate of 18 to 20 per 100,000, Rochester remains a focal location for determining the most effective method for combating crime. Housing, community outreach, and street corner crackdowns are examples of criminal justice initiatives used in Rochester with the goal to improve quality of life, establish community relationships, and decrease crime. The objective of this research is to identify the effectiveness of housing, community outreach, and street corner crackdowns as crime prevention tools. Strengths and weaknesses of each criminal justice initiative are evaluated through crime analysis, crime mapping, regression analysis, and other research methods.\nTo conduct this study, each criminal justice initiative was examined through three different networks within the community. For example, housing was examined through Flower City’s Habitat for Humanity and their intervention area. Community outreach was evaluated through a nonprofit organization called Pathway to Peace and their operations. Finally, street corner crackdowns were assessed through Rochester Safe and Sound and their implementation of drug sweeps.\nCrime analysis and crime mapping, geographic information systems (G.I.S.) along with other research methods were used to conduct the analysis, provide visual aids, and establish boundaries for the different approaches. Specific places, such as drug markets, rehabilitated houses, and neighborhoods where anti-violence initiatives are piloted, are joined together as tests of variation of crime over time and urban geography. The use of crime analysis and G.I.S. help determine if crime is effected by the criminal justice initiatives employed in the targeted location.\nOverall, the goal is to determine if housing, community outreach, and street corner crackdowns are effective criminal justice initiatives and understand the strengths of weaknesses of each approach. The results of this analysis may lead to better policy in decreasing crime, improve community relationships, and determine which criminal justice initiative should be the focused of future efforts.
Author: Peter Tran
Institution: Rochester Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W1176164794