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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Linh Phan¹, Doug Brugge², and Nina Fefferman². (1) College of Liberal Arts, Tufts University, 313 Lewis Hall, Medford, MA 02155, 978-618-3850, lphan615@gmail.com, (2) Department of Public Health and Family Medicine, Tufts University, 136 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02111

Since the adult entertainment district was rezoned from Scollay Square to Boston Chinatown in 1974, crime has been a substantial concern in the community. Neighborhood crime may have negative health effects on the Chinatown community through direct personal injury, transmission of infectious disease and contributing to stress. In recent years there have been substantial changes to the built environment, including construction of large buildings that have displaced parts of the adult entertainment district. These developments have contributed to gentrification and concern has been raised that they may be displacing crime to more residential areas. To understand the recent trends in crime, Boston Police Department crime data was obtained and analyzed for the years 1988-2004. Crimes were divided into three major categories: violent crime, property crime, and drugs and prostitution. Each crime was entered into a database, including the full date and the reporting area, which was the Boston Police Department's geographic unit. A geographic analysis using Geographic Information Systems was applied to visually interpret the movement of crime and to test whether crime had moved to residential areas. Temporal analysis assessed changes in crime by type over the time period. The overall trend in violent crime and property crime decreased from 1988 – 2004; however, the drug and prostitution crime trend rose and fell, possibly as a result of this category's susceptibility to influence from enforcement actions such as sting operations. A moderately predictive model for the influence of built environment elements on crime was developed.

Learning Objectives: At the conclusion of the session, the participant (learner) in this session will be able to

• Discuss the relationship between the built environment and crime.
• Explain the relationship between crime and public health.
• Identify policy and planning objectives from the study results.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No