Acquisitive Crimes, Time of Day, and Multiunit Housing in the City of Milwaukee

TL;DR

This study investigates how the density of multiunit housing in Milwaukee correlates with different types of acquisitive crimes during day and night, revealing that higher housing density is linked to increased daytime robberies and overall crime.

Contribution

It provides empirical evidence on the relationship between multiunit housing density and crime rates at different times of day in Milwaukee.

Findings

Nighttime crimes are more dispersed than daytime crimes.

Higher multiunit housing density correlates with increased crime, especially daytime robberies.

Not all crime types are related to housing density or time of day.

Abstract

According to "Social Disorganization" theory, criminal activity increases if the societal institutions that might be responsible for maintaining order are weakened. Do large apartment buildings, which often have fairly transient populations and low levels of community involvement, have disproportionately high rates of crime? Do these rates differ during the daytime or nighttime, depending when residents are present, or away from their property? This study examines four types of "acquisitive" crime in Milwaukee during 2014. Overall, nighttime crimes are shown to be more dispersed than daytime crimes. A spatial regression estimation finds that the density of multiunit housing is positively related to all types of crime except burglaries, but not for all times of day. Daytime robberies, in particular, increase as the density of multiunit housing increases.