The spatial clustering and heterogeneity of the burglary and concentrated disadvantage relationship in Washington, DC

This study shows that the global and local spatial patterns of burglary rates in the District of Columbia neighborhoods varied significantly between 2019 and 2021, and that their relationship with Concentrated Disadvantage (CD) was spatially heterogeneous. Hotspot clusters of neighborhoods with high levels of burglary changed rapidly from one year to another, while clusters with positive and negative local associations between burglary and CD did not change significantly over time. The mains lessons are that burglary hotspots are harder to predict than bivariate burglary and CD hotspots, and that the previous relationship varies significantly across neighborhoods. The research and policy implication is that we need to move beyond the spatial univariate analysis of hotspots of crime, to more detailed spatial bivariate analyses of correlates of crime.