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Gating and residential robbery

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Crime Prevention and Community Safety Aims and scope

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to examine whether robbery rates and select robbery characteristics differ between gated and non-gated residential communities. We use NCVS data to assess frequencies and robbery characteristics of gated and non-gated residential communities. There were no statistically significant differences in robbery rates between gated and non-gated complexes. Our null finding is surprising given the perceived crime prevention benefits of gating. The article explores gating’s potential role in the prevention and/or amplification of residential robbery. Attention is given to the role of natural surveillance, collective efficacy and sanction threats in this regard.

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Notes

  1. As is the case with most violent crime, robberies are relatively rare. To place these numbers into context, the unweighted number of robberies reported for 2013 was 150 with 71 occurring at or near the victim’s home.

  2. Pooling years of NCVS data to study relatively rare events is not uncommon in published studies. It is one way of exploiting the rich detail collected by the NCVS while addressing the small case sizes. One limitation with this technique is that it could influence our findings, and this is a caveat with our study and the findings obtained. However, given the dearth of available data to study this topic, we believe our work provides a useful starting point and foundation upon which future work can build. We thank an anonymous reviewer for raising this concern.

  3. Estimates of the population living in gated and non-gated communities are based on the weighted NCVS person level file.

  4. Such a study would likely require original data collection efforts. Secondary data collected from the police such as the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program permit city-level estimates, but even the UCR’s more detailed National Incident-Based Reporting System does not identify locations of residential robberies as occurring in gated communities or not.

  5. Over three-quarters (81 per cent) of gated home robberies were not committed by a friend of the victim, which supports the notion that offenders can legitimately have access to stranger-victims.

  6. Two clerks do not appear to reduce robbery rates and when injury-producing robberies result, the risk of violent victimization is doubled (see Amandus et al, 1997).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Criminology, University of Texas at Dallas, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Bruce A Jacobs

  2. Justice, Law and Criminology, American University, Washington, DC, USA

    Lynn A Addington

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  1. Bruce A Jacobs
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Correspondence to Bruce A Jacobs.

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Jacobs, B., Addington, L. Gating and residential robbery. Crime Prev Community Saf 18, 19–37 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1057/cpcs.2015.19

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