Murders and Aggravated Assaults in Indianapolis, 2004 to 2009

Abstract

This research brief employs information from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) homicide data base (called Homistat) and uniform crime reports assault data spanning 2004 to 2009, disaggregated to Indianapolis census tracts. Assaultive violence and homicide share several empirical regularities. Both are more common in densely populated urban areas characterized by socioeconomic deprivation. In this brief, we ask (a) whether these two forms of violent crime are spatially located in similar types of areas in Marion County, and (b) if they vary systematically with one another over time. The analyses reported here help identify the areas within Marion County that constantly exhibit higher levels of the most lethal forms of interpersonal violence and, in so doing, can delineate the neighborhoods and locales that require focused applications of preventive public safety resources.