Criminal Behavior Observation

Observing different block faces within an area allows the observer to conclude whether the conditions of the area play a role in the fear of crime. While observing three different block faces, one in Lakewood and two in Denver, there were different, noticeable characteristics of these neighborhoods that allowed for the assumption of fear or crime; using both qualitative and quantitative data allowed for the conclusions made. For the qualitative data, our group used different observations such as the landscape, pedestrian traffic characteristics, and characteristics of the individuals who were in that area, such as: race, gender, and age. For the quantitative data, we focused our observations more towards the physical and social disorder within
these block faces such as: beer bottles on the street, litter, graffiti, people drinking alcohol, etc. Due to the different locations that each group member had to observe, there were different conclusions made about the fear of crime within each block face, while using the same methods for research. The first location observed was Kendall Street from W Colfax Ave.
to W 16th Ave. in Lakewood, CO. Looking at the physical disorder of this location, I observed that there was litter on the street, empty beer bottles, and graffiti. With regards to the social disorder, I observed two gentlemen drinking alcohol at their apartments and one individual, who I assume was sleeping, intoxicated outside of a vacant store. The second location observed was Holden Pl from Federal Blvd to Decatur St in Denver, CO. For the physical disorder, I did observe litter on the street as well as empty beer bottles, but surprisingly, I did not observe any social disorder. Finally, the third location observed was Perry Street from W 6th Ave. N Dr. to W 7th Ave. This location has a liquor store and a small corner store on Perry Street, and the only physical disorder that I noticed was litter on the sidewalk and no social disorder was
present. While looking through my group member’s observations I noticed that block faces had been observed as well as different malls. Gabrielle noted that two of the block faces she observed had both male and female homeless individuals as well as suspicious individuals; the area also had debris and it was highly trafficked. Gabrielle noted that the area that was observed with these individuals was an area of high crime, which I agree with. An area such as this could have a high fear of crime because many individuals don’t feel comfortable with having homeless around their homes or the areas they are accustomed to going shopping at. They could fear being attacked, harassed, or simply observing an individual who appears to be homeless, when in reality they could be watching the home owner’s every move to see when a good time to break into their home is. The area also had some debris which elicits fear of knowing the area is not clean and wondering who are the individuals around the area creating this problem and not being aware of the type of people creating this problem in their neighborhood. There wasn’t much information provided with regards to race or age of the homeless individuals who were spotted in those areas.
Kris actually went on and observed both the Aurora Mall and the Cherry Creek Mall.
According to Kris, the Aurora Mall had more minority individuals speaking Spanish while the Cherry Creek Mall had more of those individuals who felt “entitled” wanting things to be done their way. Kris also noticed that there were more youth during the afternoon hours in the Aurora Mall. From the information provided by Kris, I can assume that the fear of crime in those two areas is low. However she mentioned that during the afternoon the Aurora Mall tends to me more of a chill zone for youth, there could be some fear of crime from older shoppers. The fear of crime I could picture here is fearing that youth could steal their wallets or purse, their shopping bags, something along those lines. One thing I’d like to point out that relates more towards the level of crime would be the difference in the malls with regards to what is “open” and what is not; Aurora mall is completely closed, while Cherry Creek mall closes their inside shops, but people can still access the inside of the mall. According to this information provided, it shows that the level of crime must be higher in Aurora than in Cherry
Creek.
Having lived near the areas I chose, I had observed much more fear of crime as a child than I did now as an adult, which was kind of a disappointment due to the fact that I would have had more concise observations. The first location allowed me to observe two Chicano males drinking alcohol and smoking in their apartment complex; one of them appeared to be 30 and the other was around 50 years of age. The area is very dry, no grass or flowers, and has a few pine trees and there are no street light posts down that block face. With these characteristics, I could see people fearing to walk on this street because of the people that reside here, homeless, no lighting at night to help criminals stay away, and not enough police officers monitoring the area. The second area that was observed has a majority of Black individuals, with a small amount of Hispanics. The landscaping there was very good; there was a green grass baseball field, flowers, and trees which shows me that the area is watched over and take care of. Human Services, Rude Rec Center, and a pre-school are all located here and I was able to spot one or two police cars observing the neighborhood. There were a few street light posts, which allows for the assumption that the fear of crime here is present but at the same time it is not. Things like not having enough lighting could create fear, but then having police cars driving around the area can help the people feel like there is some safety being offered. The third area is around my neighborhood; the majority of people living there are Hispanics and the fear of crime there is low. The landscaping is pretty good, there are enough street light posts to light up the street well enough, and even though there is a liquor store there, the area is calm.
Overall, it seems like the observations made provided us with a good idea of what kind of characteristics elicit this fear of crime in the individuals who are accessing these areas. The table created below shows the tabulation of percentage of blocks that exhibit these characteristics: