Drug Offending in Cleveland, Ohio Neighborhoods, 1990-1997 and 1999-2001 (ICPSR 3929)

Date of Collection View help for Date of Collection

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Study Purpose View help for Study Purpose

This study investigated changes in the geographic concentration of drug crimes in Cleveland from 1990 to 2001. The main objectives of the study were: (1) to identify neighborhoods in which drug crimes were concentrated and neighborhoods where persons arrested for drug crimes resided, (2) to describe changes in concentrations of drug offending over time, and (3) to explain changes in patterns of drug offending in relation to changes in the social and physical structure of neighborhoods. The study looked at both the locations of drug incidents and where drug offenders lived in order to explore factors that bring residents from one neighborhood into other neighborhoods to engage in drug-related activities.

Study Design View help for Study Design

This study used data collected for the 224 census tracts in Cleveland, Ohio, in the 1990 decennial census for the years 1990 to 1997 and 1999 to 2001. All of the data other than the United States Census data and the drug crime data are available on-line from the Center on Urban Poverty and Social Change's community database, Cleveland Area Network for Data and Organizing (CAN DO). Data on drug crimes for 1990 to 1997 and 1999 to 2001 were obtained from Cleveland Police Department (CPD) arrest records. These records provided the address of the incident and the residential address of the person arrested. These addresses were geocoded into their 1990 census tracts, with a match rate of over 95 percent, to produce counts of the number of drug trafficking and possession incidents occurring within each tract in each year and the number of arrestees for drug trafficking and possession living in each tract. (Users should note that no geocoded data are included in this dataset.) In 1998 the CPD changed the way that drug crimes were recorded, and the accuracy with which types of drug crimes were reported was significantly reduced. As a result, while data on the total number of drug incidents in census tracts were available for the entire length of the study, data on whether these incidents involved drug trafficking or possession were only available for 1990 to 1997. CPD arrest records for non-drug crimes and Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court data were used to produce count and rate data on non-drug crimes for each census tract. Data on the social characteristics and housing conditions of each census tract were gathered from the 1990 and 2000 Censuses. Migration into and out of each tract between 1990 and 2000 was estimated using 1990 and 2000 Census population counts and Ohio Department of Health vital statistics data on births and deaths from 1990 to 2000. Data on the number of schools in each census tract were obtained from the Cleveland Municipal School District. Several sources of data were used to develop measures of the physical characteristics of areas. These included the Cuyahoga County Auditor's parcel-level data (from 1990 to 2000) on land-use patterns, characteristics of dwellings, tax delinquencies, and assessed value, and the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data (for 1992 to 2001) on home purchase loans and home improvement loans.

Sample View help for Sample

inap.

Universe View help for Universe

City of Cleveland's 1990 census tracts.

Unit(s) of Observation View help for Unit(s) of Observation

Data Source View help for Data Source

Data Type(s) View help for Data Type(s)

Description of Variables View help for Description of Variables

Variables include 1990 census tract number, year, the City of Cleveland Statistical Planning Area that each census tract belonged to, counts and rates of violent crimes, robberies, robberies with firearms, burglaries committed by adults in each census tract in each year, robberies and violent crimes committed by juveniles in each census tract in each year, number of drug trafficking and possession incidents committed by City of Cleveland residents and by suburbanites in each census tract in the years 1990 to 1997, number of residents of each census tract for the years 1990 to 1997 arrested for drug trafficking or possession, the total number of drug trafficking and possession incidents committed in each census tract for every year of the study, the total number of census tract residents arrested for either drug trafficking or possession for every year of the study, the number of residential, commercial, industrial, and vacant parcels in each census tract and the number of non-vacant parcels that were tax delinquent for 1990 to 1997, 1999, and 2000, the number of home purchase and improvement applications that were made and approved in each census tract in 1992 to 1997 and 1999 to 2001, the number of elementary, middle, magnet, and high schools in each census tract in each year, net migration for each census tract for each year, and 1990 and 2000 United States Census data on population, racial makeup, number of people under 18 and over 65, home ownership, median income, and the percent of householders who recently moved into the housing unit in selected years.

Response Rates View help for Response Rates

Not applicable.

Presence of Common Scales View help for Presence of Common Scales

None.

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Original Release Date View help for Original Release Date

2004-06-17

Version History View help for Version History

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