Highway Robbery: Testing the Impact of Interstate Highways on Robbery

Abstract

Research has shown that the occurrence of crime is based on multiple factors including a variety of geographical characteristics. Previous researchers have suggested that the environmental feature of the interstate system has an influence on crime. For this study, we test for a relationship between interstate presence and robbery at the county-level in Georgia. Additionally, we test whether or not urban/rural differences affect this relationship. Findings are consistent with previous research showing that the number of interstate exits in a county significantly increases crime; in this case the robbery rate.

Keywords:

• robbery
• interstates
• interstate exits
• pattern theory of crime
• routine activities theory
• urbanization

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

¹ In the current study the EIS is the subject of analysis, which includes all interstates that fall within the state of Georgia. State highways and toll roads are excluded.

² Routine activities theory is sometimes viewed as an individual theory because of its emphasis on motivated offenders, suitable targets, and capable guardians. Actually, Cohen and Felson (1979) viewed RAT as a counterpoint to the then dominant theoretical perspectives in criminology that identified the primary explanation for criminal acts as offenders’ motivations. Their focus was on how broader structural changes, e.g. increased prosperity after World War II, impact the juxtaposition of motivated offenders and suitable targets in the absence of capable guardians in space and time. Our study is consistent with the macro-level perspective provided by RAT because we are examining whether the EIS, a physical feature of the built environment, enhances robbery rates by increasing the likelihood that offenders and targets will be co-present in particular locations with an absence of capable guardians. The relevance of RAT for understanding the social creation of dangerous places and its overlap with social disorganization theory are well-recognized (Bursik & Grasmick, 1999).

³ The presence of interstates increases the non-residential population in any geographic area. Quantitatively travelers are not considered during crime rate calculation. Theoretically, at a macro-level this would increase the number of offenders and victims in a geographical area at any given time. This weakness to account for transients on the Interstate Highway System demonstrates methodological and theoretical flaws in criminological research that relies upon Census population statistics. That being said, these issues are difficult to circumvent, but these problems should be acknowledged during rate calculation. This has been seen in other studies where transportation routes provide an influx of transients, making those routes into crime generators (Bernasco & Block, 2011).

⁴ There have been several studies that examine roadways and other physical features through spatial analysis. Although we are concerned with spatial relationships, we examine environmental and structural correlates of robbery at the macro-level. The focus of this study is to test quantitatively if there is a relationship between the EIS and robbery.

⁵ The definition of robbery utilized here is inclusive and consistent with the Uniform Crime Reports: “… the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence and/or by putting the victim in fear.” Source: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats (last accessed 24 April 2015).

⁶ A population of 200,000 was chosen since approximately 50% of the population of Georgia are represented in these counties.

⁷ All VIFs were under 4.00 except for the variables that were tested for non-linearity and determined to be quadratic, VIFs above 4.00 included poverty (33.29), poverty squared (29.58), spatial lag (9.30), and spatial lag squared (9.01). This is one the indications of the non-linearity of the measures and to be expected while running this test. All other VIFs were low, Interstate Exits (2.36), Racial and Ethnic Heterogeneity (1.63), Population 200,000 or more (2.82), and MSA under 200,000 (1.48) (Fisher & Mason, 1981).

⁸ While poorer communities are more likely to be segmented by the interstate it is important to note that planners creating the route can easily avoid certain communities, but it is unlikely such stakeholders will shy away from an entire county. This is one of the reasons using county-level data is more appropriate than using lower-level data for this specific analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

James C. McCutcheon

James C. McCutcheon is currently an Assistant Professor and faculty senator at the University of Memphis. He gained his PhD at UCF in Sociology. His main areas of interest are violent crime and social justice, with specific interests in economic and structural predictors of crime, mass victimization, lethality, and human trafficking. His most recent articles have appeared in Homicide Studies, The International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, and Addictive Behaviors.

Greg S. Weaver

Greg S. Weaver is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Auburn University. A 1988 graduate of Auburn (BS, Criminology), he attended graduate school at the University of Central Florida (MA, Applied Sociology, 1993) and the University of Nebraska (PhD, Sociology, 1997). From 1990 to 1993 he was a probation officer with the Florida Department of Corrections and since 2009 he has been in the Reserve Unit of the Lee County Sheriff’s Office. He is the current President of the Homicide Research Working Group. Research and teaching interests include lethal violence, substance use, and research methods.

Lin Huff-Corzine

Lin Huff-Corzine is currently a Professor and the Director of the Sociology and Social Science Undergraduate Programs in the Department of Sociology at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She is currently the Vice President of the Homicide Research Working Group. Professor Huff-Corzine’s research primarily focuses on violent crime. She is co-author of the research monograph, The Currents of Lethal Violence, and her articles appear in numerous journals, including but not limited to Criminology, Deviant Behavior, Homicide Studies, the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, the Journal of Research on Crime and Delinquency, Social Forces, Violence and Victims, and Victims and Offenders.

Jay Corzine

Jay Corzine is currently Professor and Graduate Director in the Department of Sociology at the University of Central Florida. His research focuses on violent crime, with specific interests including the impact of transportation routes on homicide and robbery, mass victimization incidents, the different lethality of types of firearms, risk factors for assaults on police officers, and the influences of medical resources on lethality. He has published in numerous journals, including Criminology, American Journal of Sociology, Violence and Victims, Victims and Offenders, Homicide Studies, Deviant Behavior, Justice Research and Policy, and Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice.

Bert Burraston

Bert Burraston, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice at the University of Memphis. He is a quantitative methodologist and sociologist and has extensive experience working with longitudinal and complex data sets. His research focuses on the development of antisocial and criminal behavior. He is currently examining the relationship between inequality disadvantage, and crime. He has conducted a variety of studies using new technologies to improve services within the juvenile justice system.