Spatial and Temporal Variability of Theft Crime in Erbil City: An Analytical Study in Geography of crime

Abstract

As any other human phenomenon, theft crime differs according to time, geographical area, type, and size Such crime doesn’t happen by chance, but there are many economical, social, and psychological factors that lead to such crimes that have a thorough negative effect on the environment. Erbil city, as the capital of the Kurdistan region, witnessed massive prosperity, population growth, diverse job function, and more society classes that led to increasing crime in general and theft in particular. This is a loss of human’s belongings and disrupts the safety and security of the city.  The aim of this study is to shed light on the spatial and temporal varieties of such crimes sample between 2013 and 2023. and analyzing the distribution of crime scenes according to the neighborhood and municipalities of Erbil via applying inductive method and spatial and statistical analysis by ArcGIS program tool. To achieve this purpose, the study consists of three main parts. The first one focuses on the theoretical framework and research area. The second part emphasizes the temporal variation of the theft crime criteria. The third part is about spatial variation of the crime using Arc Gis program. The most important finding of this study is the increasing number of theft crimes in the research sample and identifying risky neighborhood, hotspots, and signs referring to theft crimes gathering. The study offers several recommendations about the risky areas and common factors for a person to be criminal. Such recommendations are addressed to the concerned parties in order to enhance and protect the security of the city.