This thesis considers the case of mobile crime-reporting systems that have emerged as an effective and efficient data collection method in low and middle-income countries. Analyzing the data, can be helpful in addressing crime. Since law enforcement agencies in resource-constrained context typically do not have the expertise to handle these tasks, a cost-effective strategy is to outsource the data analytics tasks to third-party service providers. However, because of the sensitivity of the data, it is expedient to consider the issue of privacy. More specifically, this thesis considers the issue of finding low-intensive computational solutions to protecting the data even from an "honest-but-curious" service provider, while at the same time generating datasets that can be queried efficiently and reliably. This thesis offers a three-pronged solution approach. Firstly, the creation of a mobile application to facilitate crime reporting in a usable, secure and privacy-preserving manner. The second step proposes a streaming data anonymization algorithm, which analyses reported data based on occurrence rate rather than at a preset time on a static repository. Finally, in the third step the concept of using privacy preferences in creating anonymized datasets was considered. By taking into account user preferences the efficiency of the anonymization process is improved upon, which is beneficial in enabling fast data anonymization. Results from the prototype implementation and usability tests indicate that having a usable and covet crime-reporting application encourages users to declare crime occurrences. Anonymizing streaming data contributes to faster crime resolution times, and user privacy preferences are helpful in relaxing privacy constraints, which makes for more usable data from the querying perspective. This research presents considerable evidence that the concept of a three-pronged solution to addressing the issue of anonymity during crime reporting in a resource-constrained environment is promising. This solution can further assist the law enforcement agencies to partner with third party in deriving useful crime pattern knowledge without infringing on users' privacy. In the future, this research can be extended to more than one low-income or middle-income countries.

Thesis advisor: Arthur Lewbel / This dissertation consists of three related chapters. A unifying feature throughout all is a focus on the issues in the economics of crime, specifically in how different factors affect different types of index crimes. The first chapter, a collaboration with Abby Hong, examines the role of the stand-your-ground law in driving first-degree and second-degree murder rates. The second chapter, a collaboration with Benjamin Ferri, examines how the two ends of the income distribution impact emotional gain crime and financial gain crime. Both chapters one and two examine how different variables affect crime, and both have a theoretical part and an empirical part. The third chapter looks into measurement issues in crime. Specifically, it considers the impact of a change in data collection methods on the Uniform Crime Report (UCR). The first chapter, “Self-defense Regulations and Crime: Evidence from the Stand Your Ground Law,” provides a theoretical model of crime escalation when governments relax self-defense regulations. We then test the model with an empirical analysis of the “stand-your-ground” (SYG) laws’ impact on planned and unplanned murders. The game theoretical model shows that relaxing self-defense regulations can increase the arming of crime victims. It also increases the arming of offenders in crimes that lead to unplanned murders. If planned murder offenders are over-confident, then their level of arms increases as well. We then use a difference-in-differences (DiD) model to test these implications. We find that consistent with the model, SYG laws in the US increase the planned murder rate by 7.6% and the unplanned murder rate by 10.4%, on average. Also, the effect size increases over time, highlighting the persistence of the impact. The paper illustrates how interactions between victims and offenders result in unintended consequences of self-defense regulations. It also encourages policymakers to take into account criminal behavior when making policy decisions. The second chapter, “The Distinct Roles of Poverty and Higher Earnings in Motivating Crime,” develops a new model that articulates how Poverty (the lower tail of the earnings distribution) and Earnings (the upper tail) enter into equilibrium crime rates. In our model, individuals in Poverty have less to lose in the context of criminal punishment, so are less averse to committing crimes in general. The presence of high Earnings (therefore things worth stealing) heightens the expected gain to offenders per crime - but specifically in terms of financial gain, not emotional gain. We estimate our model on a comprehensive panel of U.S. Commuting Zones (1980-2016), deploying novel Shift-Share instruments to correct for reverse causality (of crime on the earnings distribution). Corroborating our hypothesis, we find that high Earnings plays a much larger role in driving crimes that yield financial gain to the offender (various forms of theft) than it does for crimes of emotional gain; while Poverty is a driving force equally across both types of crime. In each case, not accounting for reverse causality would underestimate both effects, often by more than double. The third and final chapter, “Crime Reporting Standards and Reported Crime,” This paper explores data discrepancies in the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) before and after the adoption and conversion of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS). The FBI starts publishing the UCR in 1930 to understand crime trends in the United States. The UCR is published under the Summary Reporting System (SRS) until the 1990s, when the NIBRS is developed to collect more detailed data. The NIBRS is then converted to “synthetic SRS” and concatenated to historical SRS data when it enters the UCR. It uses a staggered event study design based on the year in which the agency switches from the SRS to the NIBRS. I find two factors that contribute to a large and statistically significant increase in reported crime for agencies that adopt the NIBRS compared with agencies that have not: the data conversion process and a change in reporting practices. When I convert the NIBRS to synthetic SRS based on published criteria, I observe a smaller and statistically insignificant increase in assault cases. However, this alternative conversion process does not improve the difference-in-differences (DiD) effects for total crime, murder, robbery, burglary, and theft, highlighting the fact that data from the NIBRS is more complete and more timely. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2023. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.

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The topic of this thesis is the criminological significance of crime reporting. The first part deals with the issues of latent crime, the part of crime which stays hidden. It describes the possibilities and limits of crime recording and the reasons why a significant part of crime stays in the so called dark area of crime and gets never discovered by police. The most significant cause of latent crime seems to be the non- reporting behavior of victims. The second part closely looks at the non-reporting behavior of victims and describes the individual factors, which lead to the decision to not report a crime to the police. First and nearly most important factor described is the cost and benefit theory. Second factor that the thesis is dealing with is the trust in police in a specific territory. Third factor is the influence of neighborhood in which the victim lives and fourth is the influence of victim's age. Fifth factor described in this thesis is the gender of the offender, primarily the fact, that crimes committed by women get reported less than crime committed by men. Special chapter is dedicated also to the reporting of domestic violence. The third part of this thesis deals with reporting of corruption, primarily of bribery criminal offences. In this area Czech Republic still doesn't have legal...

The purpose of this study was assessing the perceptions of student's on how the campus climate impacts their likelihood of reporting crime. Victimization studies have been conducted at large universities and community colleges; however, there remains a lack of research regarding private colleges. This study was designed to examine the reasoning behind students' crime-reporting behaviors and the influencers that impact their decisions. Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory along with the collective-efficacy theory were used as frameworks to analyze the crimes that occur to college students as well as to explore the reasons for not reporting some crimes to law enforcement. This research utilized archival data from a private (not-for-profit) college in the Midwest United States. The data were analyzed through coding and thematic development, supported by secondary coding review and member checks. Concepts explored through this study included examining students' perceptions on their likelihood of reporting crime and victimization as well as students' feelings of safety while at college. Results showed that students voiced consistent beliefs that their peers were likely to report crime and several factors influenced the reporting of crimes or victimization by students. Findings also showed that students felt generally safe while attending college but expressed a need for improved safety systems on the campus. These findings draw no definitive conclusions about why students choose to not report crime but do promote social change by helping administrators develop policies that collaboratively engage students, law enforcement, and campus officials with crime reporting and education programs to reduce the underreporting of crime and victimization.

The focus of this research is crime in multi-unit rental structures, Specifically, apartment complexes. It seeks to identify management policies and environmental attributes that are associated with lower crime and police calls for service rates.

Abstracts in English, Afrikaans and Southern Sotho / The prevalence of hate victimisation in South Africa remains unknown, as does its full impact. Anecdotal evidence, borne out by recent research findings, suggests hate-based attacks on non-nationals have increased in recent years, distinctly reflecting a picture of heightened vulnerability. For several reasons, the severity of such victimisation, and their physical and psychological impact, go mostly unseen. Hate-motivated incidents, such as hate speech and intentional unfair discrimination, are possible precursors to additional criminal victimisation. Records of such incidents can be helpful to demonstrate both a context of harassment and evidence of escalating patterns of violence. Worldwide, under-reporting of hate victimisation is a longstanding concern and requires an urgent solution. In South Africa, under-reporting has contributed to the nonrecognition of hate crime as a separate crime category. Towards aiding in finding a solution, this study explored the psychological barriers to reporting xenophobic victimisation to relevant authorities. The study, furthermore, explored with a group of victims who experienced xenophobia whether they reported victimisation, the reasons for reporting and under-reporting, and their thoughts and opinions on the workability of a third-party reporting mechanism. Non-probability sampling, specifically applying convenience and purposive sampling was used to obtain 19 participants for the four semi-structured focus groups. While all participants reported being victimised because of their nationality, the study found that multiple psychological barriers prevent such victims of xenophobia from reporting victimisation to authorities. Many of the participants do not believe in the workability of third-party reporting mechanisms. / Dit is onbekend hoe algemeen viktimisering op grond van haat in Suid-Afrika voorkom, en daarom ook wat die volle impak daarvan is. Onlangse navorsingsresultate dui egter daarop dat aanvalle op nielandsburgers wat uit haat voortspruit, toegeneem het die afgelope paar jaar, wat hulle groter kwesbaarheid duidelik weerspieël. Die intensiteit van hierdie viktimisering, asook die fisieke en sielkundige impak daarvan word in die meeste gevalle om verskeie redes ook nie bekendgemaak nie. Voorvalle wat uit haat voortspruit, soos haatspraak en doelbewuste onregverdige diskriminasie, is moontlik voorlopers van verdere kriminele viktimisering. Die optekening van sulke gevalle kan help om bewys te lewer van die teisteringskonteks, sowel as van patrone van toenemende misdaad. Die gebrekkige aanmelding van viktimisering op grond van haat is wêreldwyd lank reeds ’n probleem, en een waarvoor daar dringend ’n oplossing gevind moet word. In Suid-Afrika het gebrekkige aanmelding daartoe bygedra dat haatmisdaad nie as ’n aparte misdaadkategorie erken word nie. Ten einde ’n oplossing te help vind, het die navorser vir die doeleindes van hierdie studie die sielkundige faktore ondersoek wat verhoed dat xenofobiese viktimisering by die betrokke owerhede aangemeld word. Die studie bevat ook die terugvoer van ’n groep slagoffers van xenofobie oor hulle aanmelding van die viktimisering al dan nie, die redes waarom hulle dit aangemeld het of nie aangemeld het nie, en hulle gedagtes en menings oor hoe lewensvatbaar ’n stelsel vir derdeparty-aanmelding is. Niewaarskynlikheid-steekproefneming, en spesifiek doelbewuste en gemaksteekproefneming is gebruik om 19 deelnemers vir die vier semigestruktureerde fokusgroepe te vind. Alhoewel al die deelnemers bevestig het dat hulle geviktimiseer is op grond van hulle nasionaliteit, het die navorser met hierdie studie bevind dat verskeie sielkundige faktore die slagoffers van xenofobie verhoed om die viktimisering by die owerhede aan te meld. Talle van die deelnemers glo nie dat stelsels vir derdeparty-aanmelding ’n werkbare oplossing is nie. / Hore na tshwaro e mpe ka lebaka la lehloyo e atile hakae Afrika Borwa ho ntse ho sa tsejwe, le ditlamorao tsa yona ha di tsejwe. Bopaki bo sa netefatswang, bo hlaheletseng dipatlisisong tsa morao tjena, bo bontsha hore ditlhaselo tse etswang ho batho ba tswang dinaheng tse ding di eketsehile morao tjena, e leng se bontshang hore ba kotsing le ho feta. Ho na le mabaka a mmalwa a etsang hore ho pharalla ha tshwaro e mpe jwalo, ho hlokofatswa mmeleng le maikutlong ho se ke ha bonahala. Diketso tse hlohleletswang ke lehloyo, tse kang dipuo tse nang le lehloyo le kgethollo e etswang ka boomo, e ba selelekela sa diketso tsa bonokwane tsa tshwaro e mpe. Ho tlalehwa ho diketso tseo ho ka thusa ho bontsha maemo a lebisang tshwarong e mpe mme ha fana ka bopaki ba hore diketso tse mabifi di ntse di eketseha. Lefatsheng ka bophara, taba ya ho se tlalehwe ha tshwaro e mpe e hlohleletswang ke lehloyo haesale e le qaka mme ho hlokahala tharollo ka potlako. Afrika Borwa, ho se tlalehwe hona ho entse hore diketso tsa bonokwane tse hlohleletswang ke lehloyo di se ke tsa nkwa e le diketso tse ikemetseng tsa bonokwane. Ho thusa ho fumana tharollo, phuputso ena e lekola mathata a maikutlo a sitisang matswantle ho tlaleha tshwaro e mpe ho ba boholong ba ikarabellang. Ho feta moo, phuputso ena e lekola matswantle ao e leng mahlatsipa a tshwaro e mpe hore na a ile a e tlaleha, mabaka a entseng hore a e tlalehe, a se ke a tlaleha le hore na a nahanang ka ho sebediswa ha mokena-dipakeng. Ho kgethilwe bankakarolo ba 19 ka hloko e le sampole, ba kgethwa ka sepheo le morero o tobileng hore ba be dihlopheng tse nne tse sa hlophiswang ka ho feletseng. Le hoja bankakarolo bohle ba tlalehile hore ba tshwerwe hampe ka lebaka la botjhaba ba bona, phuputso e fumana hore ho na le mathata a mmalwa a maikutlo a thibelang mahlatsipa a tshwaro e mpe ya matswantle ho tlalehela ba boholong. Bankakarolo ba bangata ha ba dumele hore ho tlalehela mokena-dipakeng ho tla thusa. / Psychology / M.A. (Psychology)