Crime Rates in Ohio - Coursework Example

Crime rates in Ohio Crime rates in Ohio Introduction Crime is one of the social ills which continue to elicit lots of interest in the society. Dealing with crime remains a priority of most governments across the globe and Ohio State is no exception. This paper focuses on assessment of the crime situation in Ohio based on the existing data on various forms of crime across the state. Additionally, the research attempts to create a link between the respective areas populations and the corresponding crime rates. This is based on the assumption that larger populations attract more criminal as compared to smaller populations. Additionally, the study assesses the relationship between violent crime incidences and property crime in the state of Ohio. Conventionally, it is important to understand how one crime act relates to another as this can help in deciphering whether the criminals are the same ones or whether different groups are involved. Finally, the paper looks at a summary case of Ohio by attempting to establish which criminal activities are most prevalent in Ohio. In general, the paper applies simple statistical procedures in analysis, including comparison charts, correlation analysis and descriptive statistics to address its areas of focus. Various research questions are formulated to guide the direction of research. Research questions 1. Is there a relationship between county population and crime rate in the county? 2. What does county’s average statistic rates have to say about crime rate in Ohio State? 3. Does increased incidences of violent crime indicate and increased rate of property crime? 4. Which crime acts are more prevalent in Ohio? The data used in this study are obtained from http://www.ocjs.ohio.gov/crime_stats_reports.stm#tog. It constitutes of the population data for Ohio counties and sub-counties and their corresponding crime rates for various criminal activities. The data are briefly discussed. Population Population of a place is defined as the number of inhabitants of the place at a particular time. The population data presented in the data represent not just the population of the County in Ohio but also the sub-counties in the respective counties. It is the population data for the sub-counties that are added to give the total population for each county. Like the other data used in the study, the population data are based on available population data as at 2011. Violent crime A violent crime is defined as a crime where the perpetrator uses violent force or threatens to use them on his/her victim. It involves crimes where violence is intended nor the main aim and also those crimes where violence is used as a means to an end. Property crime Property crimes are different general robbery in that it does not fall under violent crime. Conventionally, property crime involves taking of victims valuable without use of force and more often it occurs without the owners’ knowledge at the time of its occurrence. In most instances, property crimes constitute high-volume crimes and involve cash, electronics, and jewelry, among others. Targeted items often involve easy selling items which can be concealed, removed easily, readily available, and have a value attached to them. Murder Murder constitutes illegal taking away of life. It often involves a malice afterthought and is premeditated. Premeditation element is widely used to create a distinction between murder and other kinds of unlawful homicides. Forcible rape Forcible rape is defined as the act of having carnal knowledge of a female using force and against the woman’s will.  Also included in the broad definition are attempts or assaults aimed at committing rape using force or threat of the same. Larceny Larceny is a form of crime that involves unlawful acquisition of another person’s property. Although some countries have abolished it as a crime, it remains a crime in the United States. Robbery Robbery is defined as a crime which involves taking or trying to take a valuable using force or threat of the same. In common law, it is defined as acquisition of another person’s property with the intention of denying the person’s benefit of the property and involves use of force. Its inherent violent nature distinguishes it from other forms crime. Burglary Burglary involves illegal entry into an individual’s premises with the intent of committing an offence. Typically, theft is the offense although in a number of jurisdictions, other specified crimes are also included as long as illegal entry is involved. MV theft Motor vehicle theft involves steal of a car and is a criminal offense. All forms of motor vehicle theft are included under this category of criminal acts. Arson Arson is a criminal offense and involves intentional and malicious setting of fire to a buildings, wild-land, automotive or any other form of property with the intention of inflicting damage to the property.it is distinguished from other spontaneous causes whether natural or human initiated. It simply involves fires deliberate setting of property on fire, whether it is for another person or own property. Results and analysis 1. Is there a relationship between county population and crime rate in the county? This questioned is answered through correlation analysis. From attached correlation table, appendix 1 is evident that there exists a strong positive correlation between population and crime rate in the county. Each of the crime rates reported show positive correlation to population indicating a possible increase in the same in instances where the county population increases. 2. What does county’s average statistic rates have to say about crime rate in Ohio State? Column1 Mean 896.2318053 Standard Error 209.3600747 Median 233.8888889 Standard Deviation 1952.780775 Sample Variance 3813352.757 Range 12962.15714 Minimum 15.14285714 Maximum 12977.3 Sum 77972.16706 Count 87 Confidence Level (95.0%) 416.1940539 Of the 87 counties, Wyandot County records the lowest incidences of crime while Franklin County records the highest incidences of crime creating marginally big range. Average crime rate is 896.23 indicating that most counties have marginally high incidences of crime. 3. Does increased incidences of violent crime indicate and increased rate of property crime? A comparison of nonviolent crime rates and property crimes rates indicate a close relationship as shown in the correlation table appendix 1. The positive correlation shows that an increase in one is likely to be matched by an increase in another. 4. Which crime acts are more prevalent in Ohio? The graph indicates each type of crime and its incidence. Definitely, property crime ranks highest followed by Larceny while murder is the least form of crime encountered in Ohio. The data presented in this paper offer insightful information not just to the police but also to policy makers and the public at larger. The public can easily know which places are the safest and which are the most risky and consequently, take appropriate precautions. The police on the other hand can easily know where to direct most of its resources and also decide when to increase or reduce the force size in the area while policymakers can come up with policies targeting the crimes that mostly affect the area. Appendix 1: Correlation analysis   POPULATION VIOLENT CRIME PROPERTY CRIME MURDER FORCIBLE RAPE ROBBERY AGG ASSAULT BURGLARY LARCENY-THEFT MV THEFT POPULATION 1 VIOLENT CRIME 0.972486523 1 PROPERTY CRIME 0.969124938 0.950062554 1 MURDER 0.96254564 0.970289219 0.968623555 1 FORCIBLE RAPE 0.967782586 0.950419231 0.986446497 0.9519656 1 ROBBERY 0.961845415 0.987825946 0.953543901 0.9741187 0.95284821 1 AGG ASSAULT 0.922463101 0.960915929 0.867469951 0.8937935 0.86615843 0.9073547 1 BURGLARY 0.965969123 0.981252747 0.973113654 0.9681305 0.96327079 0.9674056 0.9379458 1 LARCENY-THEFT 0.938019162 0.895438421 0.987976518 0.9330455 0.96917739 0.9068237 0.7936872 0.92710537 1 MV THEFT 0.946359195 0.980571003 0.912928945 0.9408048 0.92810773 0.9855367 0.9172944 0.94778326 0.85028435 1 ARSON 0.813327266 0.86818673 0.789864338 0.8377359 0.75058127 0.8119363 0.9201825 0.88175626 0.71267963 0.801521267 Read More