Award Date

5-1-2022

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Criminal Justice

First Committee Member

Tamara Herold

Second Committee Member

William Sousa

Third Committee Member

Seong Min Park

Fourth Committee Member

Robert Futrell

Number of Pages

128

Abstract

This study examined land use and crime against persons and crime against property in Las Vegas, Nevada at varying spatial levels of analysis. Using crime data provided by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department and the Clark County Assessor’s office, results at the macro-level of analysis reveal that property crime rates concentrated on commercial, transportation, communication and utilities, and industrial land use, whereas violent crime concentrated at commercial, multi-residential, and civic, institutional, and recreational land use. Upon examining the subtypes of land use that generate or radiate more crime, property crime concentrated on transportation land use, class 1 resorts, and storage facilities. Violent crime was more concentrated on public use parks, restaurants and cocktail lounges, and multi-residential land use. At the micro level of analysis, commercial property experienced more property crime and low-rise apartments experienced more violent crime. A growth curve analysis revealed that land use classification at the micro level of analysis was not found to have a significant influence on crime at place over time. Finally, this study explored within group variation to determine if a small proportion of class 1 resorts and multi-residential land use (risky facilities) account for the majority of the crime in Las Vegas and confirmed the iron law of troublesome places. These findings indicate that “what happens in Vegas,” is not unique to Las Vegas.

Keywords

Crime at place; Crime science; Hot spots; Land use; Place management; Routine Activity

Disciplines

Criminology | Criminology and Criminal Justice | Environmental Sciences | Urban, Community and Regional Planning | Urban Studies | Urban Studies and Planning

File Format

pdf

File Size

1921 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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