Investigating the spatiotemporal links between disorder, crime, and the fear of crime

While links between social and physical disorder, crime, and the fear of crime have long been areas of research interest, few studies have looked at these links from a spatiotemporal viewpoint. This is somewhat surprising, as many of the factors associated with disorder, crime, and fear are known to vary over time and space. This paper uses GISystems to investigate potential spatiotemporal links between these areas in Wollongong, New South Wales, with specific focus on links between graffiti and the fear of crime. The results reveal that the distribution of fear of crime varies considerably over time and is often spatially coincident with concentrations of disorder. Graffiti was found to be one of the most prevalent types of physical disorder. The results are discussed in the context of the “broken windows” thesis and strategic intervention at the community level.