Geographical and temporal analysis of violence in Glasgow: An adjunct to violence prevention

Purpose: Understanding that Violence is dependent on the interaction between the victim, offender and location, we sought to examine that relationship in Glasgow by means of temporal and spatial analysis with the aim of identifying prevention strategies and generating political and policy debate on violence reduction. Background: By UK standards Glasgow is a violent city with knife crime a particular issue. Over recent years the Scottish Government and Strathclyde Police have funded a Violence Reduction Unit which seeks to take an enlightened and informed approach to violence prevention. Key to the unit's activity has been data analysis that brings together the approaches of disciplines such as Criminology, Public Health and Social Geography. Methodology: Data on location, date and time as well as other descriptive and behavioural factors was collated from police reports for a three year period and was examined using geographical software and kernel density spatial analysis. Results: Amongst other results, a striking composite video image was produced and its presentation will demonstrate the power of geographic and temporal analysis in shaping violence reduction approaches; highlighting in particular the role that such analysis has in defining problems, shaping solutions and engaging policy makers and politicians.