Crime Models
These models and simulations have been tagged “Crime”.
These models and simulations have been tagged “Crime”.
NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research. (2020). NSW Local Government Area excel crime tables.
Alexander, H. (2019, May 29). How NSW town labelled 'most dangerous in world' changed its destiny. Retrieved from Sydney Morning Herald: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/how-nsw-town-labelled-most-dangerous-in-world-changed-its-destiny-20190527-p51ri6.html
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). 2016 Census QuickStats. Retrieved from Australian Bureau of Statistics: https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/LGA11150?opendocument
Thompson, G., McGregor, L., & Davies, A. (2016, September 19). Backing Bourke: How a radical new approach is saving young people from a life of crime. Retrieved from ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-09-19/four-corners-bourkes-experiment-in-justice-reinvestment/7855114
Underlying assumptions:
Constants:
Things to note:
Initial values:
Youth in town: 1200.
Criminals: 100.
Juvenile Detention: 100.
Violent families: 300
Detected violent families: 100.
Variables
There are two Variables involved in the model
1. Police Enforcement
It measures how effectively and efficiently police go about fulfilling its duties; Identifying potential criminals and stopping them from committing crime and punishing criminal who are guilty.
2. Community Development
Community development intervenes by changing the mindset of alienated and rehabilitated youth and hence affecting the flow towards Social Interactive Activities.
Adjusting Variables
Police enforcement can be adjusted using the slider given below. There is no choice given to adjust community development as it is affected by various factors of the society; education, culture, morals etc.
Assumptions
Youth engaged in Social Interactive Activities can never become alienated and hence will not go to drugs. In other words, a socially interactive youth member will be engaged in sports, education, gaming or café rather than drugs.
Youth are defined as ages 15-24, comprising of a population of 80. (ABS, 2016)
References
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2016). General Community Profile. (Cat. No. 2001.0). https://quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/communityprofile/LGA11150?opendocument
Details:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]-->This model shows the effect of ‘reinvestment program ‘or the expenditure on policing and community development affects the cycles of petty-crime and youth detention, and domestic violence and jail.
More details:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]--> Bourke is a town of 3000 people in the North West of New South Wales, about 750Km from Sydney. See the map: https://goo.gl/maps/VgNqgMNzJ7H2. It’s nowhere and there’s not much to do there if you’re young. So, a lot of kids get into mischief, and a lot of adult’s drink. Sometimes they’re violent.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]-->http://www.justreinvest.org.au/justice-reinvestment-in-bourke/
Assumption:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Bourke Funding consist of Law enforcement funding and Community Development funding only
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o <!--[endif]-->Bourke budget only has $400,000
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Juvenile detention stay last for 6 months
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->There is only 2 options as a Youth, commit petty crime or engage in Youth development programs
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->1 unit of Police, Juvenile and Educational program HR and Equipment is = 0.25
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o <!--[endif]-->1 unit increase results in an 0.25 effectiveness increase
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Sport clubs, educational programs and social programs are comprised into Youth Development Program as 1 stock.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Juvenile support relies on encouraging youth who are in detention centers to join youth development programs, if not they will reoffend.
Stocks:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o <!--[endif]-->Home
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o <!--[endif]-->Youth Development program
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o <!--[endif]-->Discharged
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o <!--[endif]-->Juvenile detention center
<!--[if !supportLists]-->o <!--[endif]-->Petty Crime
Variable:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Reinvestment Allocation – ranges from 0 – 1 , law enforcement investment allocation is 1 – reinvestment allocation. Slide the slider through 0 to 1 to change the reinvestment allocation by 10% l
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Bourke funding budget is fixed to make it seem more realistic (imagine employing a whole army of teachers or police, it wouldn’t make sense)
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Youth Population varies , from 1000 to 10,000 for realism along with its time period (4 years). Slider the the slider to increase or decrease the population by 1,000s
Juvenile support effectiveness rate, Youth development program effectiveness rate, conviction rate, Police HR/ equipment, Juvenile Support HR/ equipment, Youth Development program HR/ equipment
Interrelationship and reinforcing loops
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->The youth population starts as as Neutral (Home) then leans towards alienation and connectedness
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Alienation Reinforcing Loop - Alienation has Conviction rate as a factor as conviction rate increase Alienation increase. This is because as youths get arrested, meaning they’ll have to stay in Detention centers, their friends are more likely to follow on due to them getting ‘bored’.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Connectedness Reinforcing Loop - The opposite exist with Connectedness, as educational program effectiveness increase so as Connectedness. This follows onto the same assumption that youth will always follow peer pressure. The more friends they have in the program, the more likely they will join aswell.
Analysis:
<!--[if !supportLists]-->1. <!--[endif]-->Which loop is the youth in?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Once the allocation slider is used with its minimum or maximum value, the loop at which majority of the youth population is ‘stuck in’ becomes obvious. E.g. Once allocation = 1, the entire youth is stuck between educational program and their home, showing the effectiveness of community development funding. On the other hand, once allocation = 0, the entire youth loops around from doing Petty Crimes, spending their time in Juvenile detention centers, then getting discharged to only commit petty crimes again.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->2. <!--[endif]-->Alienation vs. Connectedness
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Set the allocation slider on 0.8, The massive difference between the youth of population feeling connected with their community and youth being alienated can be seen. The increase in Reinvestment, the increase in connectedness. Try the extremes as well, 100% reinvestment funding results in 0 Alienation rate.
<!--[if !supportLists]-->3. <!--[endif]--> What is the Youth Engaged in ? Educational Programs or Petty Crime ?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->· <!--[endif]-->Leaving the slider on 0.8, it can be seen that the there are more youth engaged into educational programs than petty crime. This shows that reinvestment and petty crime has a negative relationship .
<!--[if !supportLists]-->4. <!--[endif]-->More police = safer ?
<!--[if !supportLists]-->- <!--[endif]-->Set the slider on 0.1 , it can be seen that Conviction which has police as a factor is positively correlated to Crime. This means that an increase in conviction rate is equivalent to more youth being alienated and committing crime. Therefore, more police less safer.
Have fun!
The traditional lifestyle for youth in this town involves either a chosen path of committing crimes, or, that of community activity and various forms of education.
The model has been designed to mimic a system where community expenditure and support services are adopted in order to inject a positive lifestyle for the youth population. The phenomena studied in this simulation is the balance between policing, community support and social influence versus not using them.
Assumptions
-1000 Youth Population
-Youth are either influenced by criminal activity or by productive educational activities.
- Adoption rate of community activities is influenced by personality, relating to current personal skill level of youth and willingness.
-If youth you do not become involved in community activity or some form of Education, then they turn to the path of crime.
-Punishment facility time is up to 12 months with a 2 year probation period
-Community expenditure and support only begins in the probation period, unless “Juvenile Support” slider is used.
-For the purpose of this study on youth crime and support before a crime is committed, we do not include a possibility of relapse in the rehabilitation phase.
STOCKS
VARIABLES
Policing Units – Policing Bourke's criminal activity, and convicting after a crime has been committed.
Juvenile Support Units – The variable change in crime IF the community funds Support Units for youth before a crime is committed.
Social Support Units – The number of social support units available for released offenders during rehabilitation phase.
Community expenditure – the amount of time and money being spent on social services and policing.
Birth rate, crime rate, dicharge rate, recidivism & conviction rate
INTERESTING RESULTS
Slide any of the 3 variables to the extreme.
This model shows that adoption rate of a positive lifestyle is directly influenced by social influences.
1/ Juvenile Support Unit impact
Press Simulate.
Slide Juvenile Support Units to the extreme. Simulate again.
Juxtaposition of Juvenile Support impact on Behavior Graph shows that Crime and Reoffend rates drop significantly. More people turn to law-abiding positive activity.
This will again all change with the manipulation of the Social Support unit slider…..
2/ Social Support Unit impact
Social Support Units only influence those released from the Punishment facility. The more social services on hand to support rehabilitation phase the less chance of committing crime for the second time, with Reoffend rates dropping significantly when the Social Support Units Slider is adjusted to the extreme.
Rehabilitation rates only increase marginally, in spite of more social support feeding into that phase.
The greatest impact is shown on Law-Abiding and Crime. How could this be? A logical conclusion is that there is a finite number of youth in the community and those who have received positive social support during a learning phase of rehabilitation, then go on to influence their friends, their family, and have a positive influence on those around them.
3/ Police Unit Impact
Slide Policing Units to the extremes. Simulate. Policing Units Graph shows there is a significant decrease in Reoffend rates, and a higher rate of Conviction.
Curiously, rehabilitation rates drop and crime rates go up. How could this happen? A logical conclusion is that conviction and punishment is not a crime deterrent. It needs the added influence of social support services for there to be a positive impact on decreasing criminal instincts and activity on the whole.
Conclusions
Social support and home visits need to happen in the flow between Youth Population and Crime - “Juvenile Support Units”.
Investment in youth via these juvenile social support officers before they commit an offence, limits the amount of criminal activity over time. So, crime effectively decreases with the direct influence of social services at a young age.
Equally, with more police presence in the community, for those tempted to re-offend, they have a deterrent.
The most efficient management of the community issues faced in Bourke however lies with a combination of both Policing and Social Support services at all levels within the community.
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