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Background: Firearm purchasing records offer a potentially important administrative data source to identify individuals at elevated risk of perpetrating firearm violence. In this study, we describe individual, firearm, and transaction characteristics of purchasers in California who were arrested for a firearm-related violent crime (FRV) as compared to the general population of registered purchasers in the state. Methods: Relying on a dataset of all individuals with transaction records in California (1996–2021), linked to criminal records (1980–2021), we enrolled a cohort of individuals for whom we could capture the legal firearm purchase history. We identified those arrested for FRV post purchase, and using incidence density sampling, gender-matched cases to ten purchasers (controls) who remained "at risk" at the time the case was arrested. We focused on the purchase closest in time prior to the arrest ("index" purchase). We implemented conditional logistic regression and included models with controls for individual- and community-level demographics, as well as interactions between firearm and purchasing characteristics and criminal history. Results: The cohort included 1,212,144 individuals, of whom 6153 were arrested for FRV (0.5%). Cases were matched to 61,530 controls to form the study sample. The largest risk factor was a prior criminal history: purchasers had 5.84 times the risk of FRV if they had a prior arrest within three years of the index purchase (CI 5.44–6.27). Several transaction and firearm characteristics were also associated with FRV. For example, risk increased if the firearm was redeemed at a pawn shop (aIRR: 1.37, CI 1.05–1.77) and decreased if the transaction was a registered private party transfer (vs. retail purchase) (aIRR: 0.83, CI 0.76–0.90) or the firearm was a bolt action firearm (vs. semi-automatic) (aIRR: 0.64, CI 0.51–0.79). In the interaction models, most of the purchase and firearm features only remained significant among those with no criminal history. Conclusions: Given limited data on firearm transactions, there has been little research on whether the type of firearm an individual purchases or the nature of the purchase might serve as indicators of risk for FRV. We found several transaction and firearm features were associated with risk of FRV. Notably, these features provided little evidence of additional risk for those with a prior criminal record. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A large literature documents that there are significant academic and non-academic differences between the youngest and oldest students in a school cohort. This paper investigates if being the youngest in a cohort has any impact on an individual's propensity to commit crime by utilizing a data set that contains over 4 million arrest records spanning a 20-year period in California. While I find no persistent effect on the probability of arrest, the youngest students in a cohort have a higher risk of arrest for certain offenses at age 14, corresponding to the age when they would transition to high school. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Catalytic converters are part of a vehicle's exhaust system and contain valuable metals (i.e., platinum, palladium, and rhodium). The value of these metals has risen dramatically, and so they have the incidents of theft. This study contributes in two important ways: First, it provides insight into an emerging crime trend of catalsytic converter theft, and second, it advances knowledge of the elasticity of crime, specifically how the value of metal impacts thefts. Data on catalytic converter thefts were collected from official police reports and social media complaints in eight California cities for 42 months. We use regression analysis to study the weekly estimated value of catalytic converters and theft. Our regression approach, which we estimate using feasible generalized least squares, accounts for the non-stationarity in weekly metal thefts and allows for autocorrelation in a panel setting. Findings reveal an average price elasticity of 1.98, meaning that a 10% increase in metal prices results in approximately a 20% increase in catalytic converter thefts. The results illustrate how the value of metals impacts thefts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Privately made firearms (PMFs) or "ghost guns" are homemade, unserialized, untraceable firearms that have been increasingly used in violent crime in the United States. Very little is known about the types of PMFs recovered by law enforcement agencies and the crimes associated with these recoveries. This lack of information limits effective violence prevention policies and practices. Comparative analysis of PMF recoveries in specific cities helps clarify whether local PMF patterns and characteristics vary or reflect more general trends. This research advances epidemiological understanding of emergent violent gun injury prevention challenges by identifying variations in recovered PMF types and use in violent, drug, and weapon-related offenses in Los Angeles and San Diego, California. Methods: Conjunctive analysis of case configurations (CACC) identifies patterns among observations (i.e., case configurations) and calculates their probability associated with a given outcome. CACC was used to identify the most common types of PMFs recovered by the Los Angeles (LAPD) and San Diego (SDPD) police departments. For each department and offense type, case configurations with above-average probabilities of offense involvement were determined. Comparisons across departments were made to identify similarities and differences in PMF characteristics and usage. Results: PMFs were more likely to be involved in violent and weapon-related offenses in Los Angles but more likely to be involved in drug-related offenses in San Diego. In both cities, the 9 mm Polymer 80 handgun was the dominant PMF. However, 9 mm handguns were most likely to be involved in weapon-related offenses in Los Angeles compared to 0.40 handguns in San Diego. Furthermore, large-caliber handguns tended to display above-average probabilities of involvement in violent and drug offenses in Los Angeles. Long guns were represented in case configurations with above-average probabilities of involvement in substantive crimes, including violence. Conclusions: Comparative analyses of PMF recovery patterns in Los Angeles and San Diego reveal meaningful contextual variations in PMF characteristics and suggest intentional firearm type selections by offenders. The results support increased regulation of PMFs and highlight the importance of efforts to identify and disrupt the illicit supply of large-caliber PMF handguns and PMF long guns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Firearm violence is a major cause of death and injury in the United States. Tracking the movement of firearms from legal purchase to use in crimes can help inform prevention of firearm injuries and deaths. The last state-wide studies analyzing crime gun recoveries used data from over 20 years ago; thus, an update is needed. Methods: We used data for 5,247,348 handgun and 2,868,713 long gun transactions and law enforcement recoveries from California crime gun recovery (2010–2021) and California's Dealer Records of Sales records. Covariates included characteristics of dealership sales, firearms and their transactions, and purchaser's demographic characteristics, purchasing history, criminal history (from firearm purchaser criminal history records), and neighborhood socioeconomic status. Analyses for handguns and long guns was conducted separately. In multivariable analysis, we included correlates into a Cox proportional hazard model accounting for left truncation and clustering between the same firearm, purchaser, dealerships, and geographic location. Covariates that remained significant (P < 0.05) were retained. For handguns, we evaluated associations of violent and weapons crimes separately. In supplementary analyses, we examined interactions by purchasers' race and ethnicity. Results: In total, 38,441 handguns (0.80%) and 6,806 long guns (0.24%) were recovered in crimes. A firearm dealer's sales volume, percent of transactions that were denials, pawns, pawn redemptions, and firearms that became crime guns were each positively associated with firearm recovery in crime. Handguns that were inexpensive, larger caliber, and that had been reported lost or stolen were positively associated with recovery in crimes. Purchaser characteristics associated with crime gun recovery included: being younger, female, Black, Hispanic, Native American or Pacific Islander, or other race/ethnicity (vs white), having previous arrests, living in close proximity to the firearm dealership, and living in a more socially vulnerable census tract. Associations with race and ethnicity were modified by previous infraction-only arrests. Conclusions: This study confirms that many previously studied correlates of firearm recovery are still relevant today. We were able to expand on previous research by examining novel associations including purchasers' criminal history and previous firearm transaction history. These results provide evidence that can be used to disrupt firearm use in crimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the issue of unconstitutional bail schedules in California and the resulting unequal treatment and violations of civil rights. It discusses specific cases where individuals were held in custody or released based on their ability to pay bail, rather than the merits of their case. The author argues for legislative action to ensure consistent and fair bail procedures across the state, as recent court decisions have provided some protections for arrestees' rights but further clarification is needed. The article also calls for challenges to the constitutionality of bail schedules and highlights the need for clearer guidelines and procedures to protect defendants' pretrial liberty. [Extracted from the article]

Introduction: We investigated whether greater concentrations of on‐ and off‐sale alcohol outlets were associated with crime and whether this association was moderated by COVID‐19 shelter‐in‐place orders (SIP) that restricted on‐premises consumption of alcohol. Methods: Crimes (2019–2020) and addresses of licenced alcohol outlets in a medium‐sized California city were geocoded within census block groups (N = 61). On‐ and off‐sale alcohol outlet density was calculated as licenced outlets/2.59 km2 (1 square mile). Multilevel negative binomial regression analyses were conducted to examine associations between alcohol outlet density and crime, and possible moderating effects of SIP, controlling for block group demographic characteristics and density of other retail businesses. Results: On‐sale outlet density was positively associated with total crimes and Part 2 crimes, while off‐sale outlet density was inversely associated with total crime and Part 2 crimes. Overall, SIP was not significantly associated with crime, but moderated the associations of on‐sale density with total crime and Part 1 crimes such that reductions in crime during SIP were observed in higher density areas. The association of off‐sale outlets with crime was not moderated by SIP policies. Discussion and Conclusion: On‐sale outlet density, but not off‐sale density, appears to be associated with increased crime. The results further indicate that restrictions in hours and service imposed by SIP policies reduced crime in high on‐sale outlet density areas. These findings reinforce the importance of regulating alcohol outlet density and hours of service, especially for on‐sale outlets, as a crime reduction strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade and a half, the Supreme Court has decided a number of cases affecting juvenile sentencing and curtailing serious punishments for juveniles. These cases culminated in the Court declaring unconstitutional the sentencing of juvenile offenders to life without the possibility of parole. For those juveniles previously sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, these decisions mandated that states provide these offenders with meaningful opportunities for release. This paper assesses the implementation of the state of California's legislative response to the Court's rulings. Specifically, we examine the extent to which youthful offender parole boards in California consider the developmental factors noted by the Supreme Court in their decisions. Our results show that the aspects of the criminal offense and the "hallmark features of youth" were found not to influence parole decisions. In contrast, several aspects of the prisoner's growth and maturation in prison were related to parole release. Thus, it appears that the parole boards are operating as instructed by the Supreme Court. Implications of these findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes the concept of cybercrime and its compatibility with Chilean legislation. It argues that a cybercrime is one in which the use of information technology is essential in the typical behavior. The importance of defining this concept for the interpretation of criminal offenses is highlighted. Additionally, the difficulty of distinguishing cybercrimes from traditional crimes due to their execution in cyberspace is discussed. The cybersecurity standards adopted by the state of California are mentioned, and the lack of delimitation of behaviors related to hardware in Chilean legislation is analyzed. In general, it is concluded that cybercrimes require the use of information technologies, and a concept based on the use of computer procedures is proposed. [Extracted from the article]

Firearm-related interpersonal violence is a leading cause of death and injury in cities across the United States, and understanding the movement of firearms from on-the-books sales to criminal end-user is critical to the formulation of gun violence prevention policy. In this study, we assemble a unique dataset that combines records for over 380,000 crime guns recovered by law enforcement in California (2010–2021), and more than 126,000 guns reported stolen, linked to in-state legal handgun transactions (1996–2021), to describe local and statewide crime gun trends and investigate several potentially important sources of guns to criminals, including privately manufactured firearms (PMFs), theft, and "dirty" dealers. We document a dramatic increase over the decade in firearms recovered shortly after purchase (7% were recovered within a year in 2010, up to 33% in 2021). This corresponds with a substantial rise in handgun purchasing over the decade, suggesting some fraction of newly and legally acquired firearms are likely diverted from the legal market for criminal use. We document the rapid growth of PMFs over the past 2–3 years and find theft plays some, though possibly diminishing, role as a crime gun source. Finally, we find evidence that some retailers contribute disproportionately to the supply of crime guns, though there appear to be fewer problematic dealers now than there were a decade ago. Overall, our study points to temporal shifts in the dynamics of criminal firearms commerce as well as significant city variation in the channels by which criminals acquire crime guns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether shocks in oil prices affect the level of crime in Kern County, California's top oil producing county. Monthly data from 2003 to 2018 is employed using a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model to test the asymmetric effects of these changes. Results for Kern County indicate that in the long-run, a negative shock in oil prices increases criminal activity while short-run oil price changes have no effect on criminal activity. Results from neighboring counties indicate that positive shocks to oil prices increase criminal activity in wealthy regions. Findings from generalized impulse response functions indicate that criminal activity in Los Angeles, Kings and San Bernardino Counties respond to shocks from Kern County's crime rates. They also indicate that criminal activity in Inyo and Los Angeles Counties influence Kern County's crime rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Breast cancer survivors are at a higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) morbidity and mortality compared with the general population. The impact of objective social and built neighborhood attributes on CVD risk in a cohort of female breast cancer survivors was examined. Methods: The 3975 participants came from the Pathways Study, a prospective cohort of women with invasive breast cancer from an integrated health care system in northern California. Women diagnosed with breast cancer from 2006 through 2013 were enrolled on average approximately 2 months after diagnosis. Their baseline addresses were geocoded and appended to neighborhood attributes for racial/ethnic composition, socioeconomic status (SES), population density, urbanization, crime, traffic density, street connectivity, parks, recreational facilities, and retail food environment. Incident CVD events included ischemic heart disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathy, or stroke. Cox proportional hazards models estimated associations of neighborhood attributes with CVD risk, which accounted for clustering by block groups. Fully adjusted models included sociodemographic, clinical, and behavioral factors. Results: During follow‐up through December 31, 2018, 340 participants (8.6%) had CVD events. A neighborhood racial/ethnic composition measure, percent of Asian American/Pacific Islander residents (lowest quintile hazard ratio [HR], 1.85; 95% CI, 1.03–3.33), and crime index (highest quartile HR, 1.48; 95% CI, 1.08–2.03) were associated with the risk of CVD events independent of individual SES, hormone receptor status, treatment, cardiometabolic comorbidities, body mass index, and physical activity. Conclusions: With the application of a socio‐ecological framework, how residential environments shape health outcomes in women with breast cancer and affect CVD risk in this growing population can be understood. Neighborhood attributes associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease among a diverse cohort of breast cancer survivors were examined. Neighborhood racial and ethnic composition as well as crime were found to be associated with risk, which has provided evidence of the need to understand the more upstream factors contributing to health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stalking is a relatively new crime, with the U.S. state of California becoming the first jurisdiction in the world to develop specific laws about such behaviors in the early 1990s. In turn, the state (including law enforcement) turned to existing research on fixated and obsessed behaviors to develop typologies to better understand this kind of offending, as a means to inform response to stalking. This article focuses on one subtype featured in the literature and, later, adopted in the modern categorization of stalking behaviors—the person experiencing erotomania. We explore the conceptual development of erotomania and the gendered lens through which "lovesickness" was treated in the past. We consider how this perspective influenced contemporary constructions of the condition and, from there, influenced the reproduction of negative gender stereotypes in the stalking profiles used to guide institutional responses in the early criminalization period and, even, into contemporary practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perpetrators of intimate partner violence (IPV) often reoffend, and firearm access increases risk of severe injury or fatality. Prior research identifies an association between a history of violent misdemeanor convictions among handgun purchasers and increased risk of subsequent arrest for a violent crime; the risk associated specifically with an IPV criminal history remains largely unexplored. The current study examined a cohort of 76,311 California adults who legally purchased a handgun in 2001 and followed them through 2013. Compared with purchasers who had no criminal history at the time of purchase, those with a history of only IPV (n = 178) charges were at increased risk of subsequent arrest for a violent Crime Index crime (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault; adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 2.6; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.4–5.1), any violent crime (AHR, 3.2; 95% CI: 2.0–5.1), and an IPV crime (AHR, 5.2; 95% CI: 3.0–9.0). Purchasers with both IPV and non-IPV charges demonstrated the greatest risk of re-arrest relative to those with no criminal history. Despite the strength of the relationship between IPV and subsequent arrest, a small proportion of handgun purchasers with an IPV criminal history were re-arrested for firearm violence crimes, limiting application for risk assessment purposes. Results affirm prior research identifying IPV as a risk factor for future offending. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive research has been conducted on the causes and factors associated with juvenile delinquency. Work has consistently revealed that family has a significant influence on the likelihood of youth crime. More specifically family structure and primary caregiver significantly influence the probability of juvenile delinquency in the community. But minimal work has examined the influence of family structure on the likelihood of misconduct among incarcerated youth. The current study helps to fill this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between misconduct among youth incarcerated in the California Division of Juvenile Justice and the youth's primary caregiver type (both parents, single parent, other). Results highlight a significant association between violent misconduct and primary caregiver type; youth are less likely to participate in violent misconduct if they report having both parents as their primary caregiver. The findings have theoretical implications, specifically the need to understand what influences from the community youth are importing into correctional settings. There are also implications for policy and practice; specifically, the importance of taking primary caregiver type into consideration for placement within a facility, and treatment considerations. Highlights: We examined the relationship between youth institutional misconduct and primary caregiver. Analyses revealed that youth were less likely to engage in violent misconduct if they reported having a both parents as their primary caregiver(s). Primary caregiver status predicted the likelihood of violent misconduct, but not misconduct in general. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public perceptions of police legitimacy and effectiveness have been challenged by recent high-profile use of fatal force incidents by the police. Prior scholarship suggests that that controversial incidents involving police use of force can engender distrust of the police. Further, the neighborhood effects literature has demonstrated the importance of community context for police-community relationships and differential responses to controversial incidents by neighborhoods. The current study assesses how communities of varying racial compositions and levels of economic disadvantage respond to police fatal force incidents by assessing neighborhood crime reporting behaviors. Using monthly 911 call data from Los Angeles, CA neighborhoods, this study explores this relationship with a series of fixed effects negative binomial regression models that model police homicides and crime reporting over a seven-year time period. Comparisons between neighborhoods of varying racial/ethnic composition and structural conditions permit the comparison of differential responses across neighborhood context. The results indicate that neighborhood crime reporting decreases following fatal police use of force incidents. Further, these responses varied across neighborhood contexts. Predominately Hispanic neighborhoods experienced greater declines in crime reporting compared to predominately White neighborhoods. Neighborhoods characterized by high levels of concentrated disadvantaged also experienced greater reductions in crime reporting compared to their more advantaged counterparts. Utilization of the formal legal system can be challenged by controversial police incidents; however, these effects are dependent on neighborhood context. Future research should explore how spatial proximity and media portrayal of incidents influence community responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aims: Retail alcohol outlets appear to open in neighborhoods with low land and structure rents near sources of demand; they may 'agglomerate', open near to one another or 'churn', replace one another, over time. We used the turnover in numbers of outlets over time to measure agglomeration and churning and the impacts of openings and closings of outlets on neighborhood crime. Design: Interrupted quasi‐experiments using spatial panel population data from 3768 synthetic block areas over 6 years. Setting: City of Oakland, CA, USA. Participants: City population. Measurements Census‐based socio‐demographic estimates and counts of openings and closings of bars/pubs, restaurants and off‐premises outlets related to assault, burglary and robbery crime incidents across synthetic Census blocks. Bayesian space–time models were used to assess agglomeration and churning and measure impacts of openings/closings on crime. Findings Churning was substantial; openings followed closings for all outlets [bars/pubs, relative risk (RR) = 50.9, 95% credible interval (CI) = 3.0–449.9; restaurants, RR = 3.1, CI = 1.5–6.1; off‐premises, RR = 23.5, CI = 2.0–129.8]. Bars/pub and restaurant openings agglomerated with other outlets (e.g., RR = 1.02, CI = 1.00–1.03 and RR = 1.01, CI = 1.00–1.01), but off‐premises outlets did not. Covarying out effects related to outlet densities, bar/pub openings were related to a 3.5% increase in assaults (RR = 1.04, CI = 1.01–1.06) and 6.9% increase in robberies (RR = 1.07, CI = 1.03–1.11). Restaurant openings were related to a 5.3% increase in burglaries (RR = 1.05, CI = 1.04–1.06). Openings and closings of off‐premises outlets were unrelated to all three crime types. Conclusions: Retail alcohol outlets appear to follow a pattern of opening near to one another and replacing each other over time. Bar, pub and restaurant openings appear to be related to increases in neighborhood crime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practice of temporarily removing students from school as a form of punishment (i.e., suspensions) remains quite common. This study uses longitudinal data from a large, urban school district in California to assess whether the use of suspensions improves school safety in the following school year. Additional analyses by student race and ethnicity are included to examine whether disproportionately punishing minority students can be partially justified by a reduction in the school crime rate. The number of student offenders, rather than the number of criminal incidents, is also investigated in relation to school suspensions. In general, the findings demonstrate that changes in suspension rates do not impact school crime rates or the number of student offenders in the following school year. However, increasing suspension rates for violent incidents significantly reduces the minor crime rate. Implications for policy are provided in light of these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In 2011, California enacted its public safety realignment initiative (realignment) motivated by a U.S. Supreme Court ruling to reduce state prison overcrowding and in effort to reduce recidivism. Realignment transferred authority for lower-level felony offenders from the state to the counties, leading to a rapid reduction in state prison incarceration levels. Objective: This study drew on a unique dataset to assess the effects of California's efforts to downsize the prison system on maternal incarceration levels and to better understand the characteristics of incarcerated mothers and their children. Methods: Incarceration records concerning all women in California state prisons between 2010 and 2012 (N = 16,917) were linked to 7.5 million vital birth records dating to 1999 to identify incarcerated women who had given birth. Multinomial logistic regression models were specified to better understand offense type differences among incarcerated mothers versus nonmothers. Results: Findings indicate that realignment disproportionately affected women. The number of men entering prison decreased 67.8% between 2010 and 2012. In comparison, the number of women entering prison decreased 78.5%. Further, more than half of incarcerated women had given birth. Mothers were more likely than nonmothers to be convicted of nonviolent crimes. Discussion: This study underscores how prison downsizing can disproportionately reduce incarceration levels for women. Given that such large proportion of incarcerated women were mothers, this policy change may have potential spillover next-generation benefits. Finally, this work reinforces the potential to use linked administrative records to study incarcerated populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Safe Passage" is an after‐school intervention program for disadvantaged youth in a medium‐sized city in southern California. Led by local law enforcement, as well as the city's recreation and park department, the program's goal is to combine community policing with after‐school care and tutoring to support children living in a large apartment complex with the highest rates of gang membership and crime in the city. This is an exploratory study that examines the perspectives of various stakeholders in the intervention program, including the community members, the local police, and Safe Passage staff members. Survey data from the community residents, program staff and law enforcement were collected. Findings indicate that there was some consensus across the various subpopulations on the challenges that have had the largest negative influence on youth in the community. The local police and the community members surveyed were also in agreement that police/community relations were largely positive. All stakeholders surveyed felt generally positive about the intervention program, but the community members were more skeptical of the program's ability to deter their children from trouble. Implications of our findings for the program and for future studies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Drug charges tripled the risk of violent crime arrest after legal handgun purchase. • The increase in risk was similar for those with prior marijuana charges only. • Drug charge history also increased the risk of additional violent crime arrests. • Mitigating these risks requires a better understanding of their nature and causes. There is evidence linking use of controlled substances with perpetration of interpersonal violence. While the United States constitution protects the right to own a firearm, federal law prohibits firearm purchase and possession by persons believed to be at high risk for violence, including those who use controlled substances unlawfully. We report here the results of a 13-year prospective observational study on the risk of violent crime associated with a history of criminal drug charges in a cohort of 79,678 legal purchasers of handguns in California in 2001. The main outcomes were post-purchase charges for any violent crime, violent Crime Index crimes (murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault), and firearm-related violent crimes. The main exposure of interest was a history of pre-purchase charge(s) for drug-related offenses; we examined as a secondary exposure a history of marijuana-related charges. We estimated adjusted hazard ratios (aHR) with 95 % confidence intervals (CI) using Cox proportional hazards multiple events models. We found that legal handgun purchasers in California with a history of drug-related charges, even those with marijuana charges only, had triple the risk of a post-purchase violent crime charge compared to purchasers with no criminal charges (drug charges only: aHR=2.9, 95 % CI 2.2–3.8; marijuana charges only: aHR=3.3, 95 % CI 1.8–6.0). In addition, a criminal history of drug charges only vs. no criminal history was associated with increased risk of one or more violent crime charges after the first post-purchase arrest event (aHR=1.6, 95 % CI 1.2–2.3). It is incumbent on researchers and policy makers to understand the nature and causes of this risk in order to take effective steps towards mitigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Trans women experience high rates of gender-based violence (GBV)-a risk factor for adverse health outcomes. Transphobic hate crimes are one such form of GBV that affect trans women. However, little is understood about factors that shape transphobic hate crimes and racial/ethnic variation in these experiences. To contextualize GBV risk and police reporting, we examined self-reported types and correlates of transphobic hate crimes by racial/ethnic group of trans women in the San Francisco Bay Area.Methods: From 2016 to 2018, trans women participated in a longitudinal cohort study of HIV. Secondary data analyses (N = 629) examined self-reported experiences of transphobic hate crimes (i.e., robbery, physical assault, sexual assault, and battery with weapon) by race/ethnicity, and whether hate crimes were reported to the police. Chi-square tests and simple logistic regression examined demographic, sociocultural, and gender identity factors associated with transphobic violence experiences and police reporting.Results: About half (45.8%) of participants reported ever experiencing a transphobic hate crime; only 51.1% of these were reported to the police. Among those who reported a hate crime experience, Black (47.9%) and Latina (49.0%) trans women reported a higher prevalence of battery with a weapon; White (26.7%) and trans women of "other" race/ethnicities (25.0%) reported a higher prevalence of sexual assault (p = 0.001). Having one's gender questioned, history of sex work, homelessness as a child and adult, and a history incarceration were associated with higher odds of experiencing a transphobic hate crime. Trans women who felt their gender identity questioned had lower odds of reporting a hate crime to the police compared to those did not feel questioned.Conclusions: A high proportion of trans women experienced a transphobic hate crime, with significant socio-structural risk factors and racial differences by crime type. However, crimes were underreported to the police. Interventions that address structural factors, especially among trans women of color, can yield violence prevention benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The prevalence and characteristics of handgun purchasers' criminal charge histories have never been described for a large population of firearm owners, but such information is critical to understanding risk factors for subsequent violence in this population. We sought to characterize legal handgun purchasers in California and compare this group to the state population, to quantify the proportion with a criminal charge history at purchase, and to identify modifiable factors associated with of having such a history. Methods: This cross-sectional study of all 79,927 legal handgun purchasers aged 21–49 years in California in 2001 used log-linear generalized additive models to identify factors associated with having a criminal charge history at purchase. Subjects are from a longitudinal study of incident criminal activity among handgun purchasers. Results: The majority (91.03%) of purchasers were male; whites were overrepresented and Hispanics were underrepresented relative to their population size. At the time of purchase, 16.68% had a criminal charge history and 10.71% had a criminal conviction. Among men with such a history, 31.28% had been charged with a violent crime and 16.54% had been charged with a firearm-related crime. The strongest factor associated with having a criminal charge history was redeeming a pawned handgun (prevalence ratio: 1.82; 95% confidence interval: 1.71, 1.93). Conclusions: Despite California's stringent firearm purchase laws, more than 1-in-6 handgun purchasers had a criminal charge history at purchase. This proportion may be higher in states with less restrictive firearm purchasing eligibility criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Population analyses of the correlates of neighborhood crime implicitly assume that a single spatial unit can be used to assess neighborhood effects. However, no single spatial unit may be suitable for analyses of the many social determinants of crime. Instead, effects may appear at multiple spatial resolutions, with some determinants acting broadly, others locally, and still others as some function of both global and local conditions. We provide a multiresolution spatial analysis that simultaneously examines US Census block, block group, and tract effects of alcohol outlets and drug markets on violent crimes in Oakland, California, incorporating spatial lag effects at the 2 smaller spatial resolutions. Using call data from the Oakland Police Department from 2010–2015, we examine associations of assaults, burglaries, and robberies with multiple resolutions of alcohol outlet types and compare the performance of single (block-level) models with that of multiresolution models. Multiresolution models performed better than the block models, reflected in improved deviance and Watanabe-Akaike information criteria and well-supported multiresolution associations. By considering multiple spatial scales and spatial lags in a Bayesian framework, researchers can explore multiresolution processes, providing more detailed tests of expectations from theoretical models and leading the way to more effective intervention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Policy restrictions on malt liquor sales have been adopted in several cities throughout the United States in an effort to reduce crime around off-premise alcohol outlets. Although California has implemented the most restrictions on malt liquor sales, no studies in the published literature have evaluated the effects of these policies on reducing crime. Objectives: We evaluated the effectiveness of malt liquor restrictions on reducing crime around off-premise alcohol outlets in six California cities. We hypothesized that adoption of malt liquor policies would be significantly associated with decreases in crime within areas surrounding targeted outlets. Methods: We used an interrupted time-series design with control areas to examine the relationship between malt liquor policies and crime reduction. We compared crime rates three years prior and following adoption of malt liquor policies. Results: Malt liquor policies were associated with modest decreases in crime, largely Part II or less serious crimes such as simple assaults. The effectiveness of malt liquor policies varied by city, with reductions in crime greatest in Sacramento where policies were more restrictive than in other cities. Malt liquor policies were also associated with small increases in nuisance crime, especially in San Francisco. Conclusion: Results suggest that malt liquor policies may have modest effects on reducing crime when they include strong restrictions on the sale of malt liquor products. Results may be informative to other cities considering whether to maintain or change their malt liquor policies as well as cities considering placing restrictions on other high content beverages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For criminalized people, particularly those who have been recently incarcerated, applying for and maintaining public assistance—cash aid and/or food assistance—is an immediate and crucial element of survival. Yet relative to a substantial body of research that documents pathways into and out of carceral citizenship, this aspect of postincarceration work has received little scholarly attention. Likewise, frontline welfare workers are often simplistically portrayed as gatekeepers who restrict poor people's access to public assistance. In this article, we make visible the intersection of welfare and criminal-legal involvement by examining how criminalized clients are understood by welfare workers in one large, densely populated California county. Our data come from a larger ethnographic study of women's postincarceration experiences of public institutions and include in-depth interviews with 19 frontline welfare workers and participant observation of welfare offices. We find that (a) criminal-legal awareness varies among welfare workers; (b) workers engage in substantial invisible labor, in large part to counteract the carceral logics of the welfare system; and (c) in absence of professional training, workers draw heavily on their own situated knowledge to manage the challenges of their work. Contextualizing these findings within a broader trend toward the deprofessionalization of welfare workers, we argue that the training and education of this workforce, particularly around criminal-legal issues, is an important avenue for social work advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars, advocates, and victims have repeatedly criticized the police treatment of sexual assault (SA) complainants. Apathetic attitudes and hostile behavior on the part of the police have likely resulted from socialization into a culture that condones the use of force and violence and blames SA victims for their victimization. Using data from in-depth semistructured interviews with 52 Los Angeles Police Department sex crimes detectives, we examine officer attitudes toward teenage complainants of SA. Notably, almost three fourths of the respondents (n = 38; 73%) mentioned that teenagers lie about SA. Practical implications, theoretical advancements, and directions for future research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recounts how the Indians figured in the Southern California legal system during the 19th century. Media coverage on the American Indians' survival despite the criminal justice system; Domination of assault charges in court records; Failure of the press to report the predominant assault charges; Adversarial role that Indians and whites adopted.

Focuses on how justice was applied in the Lastenia Abarta-Chico Forster murder case of 1881 which took place in Los Angeles, California. Background on the parties to the case; Details of the killing of Chico Forster; Inquest on the death of Chico Forster; Murder trial proceedings; Use of menstrual insanity as a criminal defense; Press coverage and legal representation of the Abarta trial.

A high incidence of honey oil and methamphetamine production has led to an increase in burn victims presenting to this regional burn center in California. This study aims to compare patient outcomes resulting from burn injuries associated with honey oil and methamphetamine production. This is a retrospective cohort study using the regional burn registry to identify patients with burn injuries related to honey oil production or methamphetamine purification explosions from January 1, 2008 to December 31, 2017. Patient demographics and clinical outcomes data were abstracted from the burn registry and medical records. A total of 91 patients were included in the final analysis and 59.3% (n = 54) were related to honey oil injury. There was no statistically significant difference between honey oil and methamphetamine burn injuries in regard to clinical outcomes, including mortality (1.9% vs 8.1%, P = .1588), third-degree burn (47.2% vs 59.5%, P = .2508), mechanical ventilator usage (50% vs 69.4%, P = .0714), median hospital length of stay (LOS; 10 vs 11 days, P = .5308), ICU LOS (10 vs 11 days, P = .1903), total burn surface area (26.5% vs 28.3%, P = .8313), and hospital charge (median of US$85,561 vs US$139,028, P = .7215). Honey oil burn injuries are associated with similar hospital LOS, similar ICU LOS, similar total burn surface area, and present a costly public health concern. With the recent legalization of marijuana in California, commercial production of honey oil in addition to increasing education about the risks of illicit honey oil production may alleviate associated risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate partner violence is a major public health problem in the US. Both firearms and alcohol have been documented to contribute to the risk and severity of this violence. Yet there has been little research examining the nexus of the two risk factors. This study sought to determine whether alcohol-related problems, as indicated by a history of conviction for offenses such as driving under the influence (DUI), were associated with risk for future intimate partner violence among authorized purchasers of handguns in California. Using a longitudinal cohort design, we found that purchasers with prior DUI convictions (and no other criminal history) had close to three times the risk of subsequent arrest for an intimate partner violence offense than did those with no criminal history at the time of the index firearm purchase. The regulation of firearm ownership among people with alcohol use problems may represent an important opportunity to reduce intimate partner violence and the escalation of firearm-related harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we use population-based linked administrative data to document the full child protective service (CPS) histories of arrested youth and young adults. We extracted records for all individuals aged 24 and under who were arrested in California in 2014 and 2015. These records were probabilistically linked to statewide CPS records dating back to 1998. Overall, 43.4% of those arrested had a history of CPS involvement. Among individuals with uncensored CPS records (born in 1998 or later), 60.2% had past CPS involvement. Findings indicate that youth and young adults booked for a felony offense were more likely to have a history of CPS involvement than those booked for misdemeanors. A multinomial model served to confirm bivariate findings. This study provides further evidence that community concerns of childhood maltreatment were common among criminal justice–involved young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The concentration of certain land uses has been linked to crime rates; yet, it remains to be seen whether mixed land use, defined as heterogeneity among several land uses, independently affects neighborhood crime. The goal of the current study, therefore, is to build upon the extant literature by examining how mixed land use influences crime, net of specific land uses and sociodemographic characteristics. Using data on Los Angeles block groups, a Herfindahl index was constructed of eight specific land uses to capture mixed land use, and a series of negative binomial regression models were estimated to assess the main and moderating effects of mixed land use on neighborhood crime. Although mixed land use was found to exert a deleterious influence on two crime types, concentrated disadvantage moderated the effect of mixed land use on all crime types. The implications of these findings for criminology, urban studies, and policy are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Exclusionary discipline can have long-term adverse effects on both students and schools. The purpose of this study was to investigate student demographic, school context, and school practice factors that are predictors of out-of-school suspension in one school district to determine if there were disparities across demographic groups over time. The sample consisted of archival data from 2010 to 2016 for approximately 56,000 students in 41 schools in a diverse school district in California. This study examined students' suspension risk over time using a multilevel model. Results confirmed that student-level predictors such as gender, race, and grade level were consistent predictors of suspension, and that school context factors such as suspension rate impacted risk. Results indicated that school practices meant to reduce suspensions were not necessarily ameliorative across time for most demographic groups, but some school practices that academically engage students at a young age may be more impactful at reducing suspension risk over time. These results affirm the importance of school-level factors, as well as a combination of practices that seek to change school culture with regard to reducing exclusionary discipline. Highlights • School practices meant to reduce suspensions are not necessarily ameliorative across time for most demographic groups. • Some school practices that academically engage students at a young age may be more impactful at reducing suspension risk. • School-level variables often produce a "frog pond" effect in which student behavior is judged relative to peers. • Underlying theories of action related to suspension reduction programs may not align well with root causes of disparities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research Summary: Our study represents the first effort to evaluate systematically Proposition 47's (Prop 47's) impact on California's crime rates. With a state‐level panel containing violent and property offenses from 1970 through 2015, we employ a synthetic control group design to approximate California's crime rates had Prop 47 not been enacted. Our findings suggest that Prop 47 had no effect on homicide, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, or burglary. Larceny and motor vehicle thefts, however, seem to have increased moderately after Prop 47, but these results were both sensitive to alternative specifications of our synthetic control group and small enough that placebo testing cannot rule out spuriousness. Policy Implications: As the United States engages in renewed debates regarding the scale and cost of its incarcerated population, California stands at the forefront of criminal justice reform. Although California reduced its prison population by 13,000 through Prop 47, critics argue anecdotally that the measure is responsible for recent crime upticks across the state. We find little empirical support for these claims. Thus, our findings suggest that California can downsize its prisons and jails without compromising public safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although much of the crime and place literature seeks to explain crime frequency in relation to environmental conditions, few studies have examined crime diversity in space. This article reexamines a study of crime diversity in relation to a neutral model assuming environmental conditions have minimal influence on crime patterns. The original study results show that the variety of crime types in a given area (i.e., crime richness) increases regularly across spatial scales, and is largely consistent with a neutral or random process. This conclusion makes no appeal to the crime-environment dependencies often believed to influence crime occurrence, making the study a worthy candidate for additional scrutiny. The current study first verifies the original study results in Los Angeles, CA, and demonstrates their robustness with alternative crime classification schemes. Next, two alternative methods are used to check whether results differ when (a) locations are sampled randomly from the entire city rather than observed crime locations, and (b) when the unit of analysis is grid cells rather than “point-buffers.” Finally, all analyses are replicated in St. Louis, MO, as a first look at generalizability. Conclusions are largely consistent with the original study, but important differences arise when alternative sampling techniques and units of analysis are used. Future directions for crime diversity research are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tobacco shops, medical marijuana dispensaries (MMD), and off-sale alcohol outlets are legal and prevalent in South Los Angeles, California-a high-crime, low-income urban community of color. This research is the first to explore the geographic associations between these three legal drug outlets with surrounding crime and violence in a large low-income urban community of color. First, spatial buffer analyses were performed using point-location and publically accessible January-December 2014 crime data to examine the geography of all felony property and violent crimes occurring within 100, 200, 500, and 1000-foot buffers of these three legal drug outlet types across South Los Angeles. Next, spatial regression analyses explored the geographic associations between density of these outlets and property and violent crimes at the census tract level. Results indicated that mean property and violent crime rates within 100-foot buffers of tobacco shops and alcohol outlets-but not MMDs-substantially exceeded community-wide mean crime rates and rates around grocery/convenience stores (i.e., comparison properties licensed to sell both alcohol and tobacco). Spatial regression analyses confirmed that tobacco shops significantly positively associated with property and violent crimes after controlling for key neighborhood factors (poverty, renters, resident mobility, ethnic/racial heterogeneity). Thus, study findings provide the first empirical evidence that tobacco shops may constitute public health threats that associate with crime and violence in U.S. low-income urban communities of color. Implementing and enforcing control policies that regulate and monitor tobacco shops in these communities may promote community health by improving public safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Examining the immigration-crime nexus across neighborhoods in the Southern California metropolitan region, this study builds on existing literature by unpacking immigration and accounting for the rich diversity that exists between immigrant groups.Methods: Using data from a variety of sources, we capture this diversity with three different approaches, operationalizing immigrant groups by similar racial/ethnic categories, areas or regions of the world that immigrants emigrate from, and where immigrants co-locate once they settle in the U.S. We also account for the heterogeneity of immigrant populations by constructing measures of immigrant heterogeneity based on each of these classifications. We compare these novel approaches with the standard approach, which combines immigrants together through a single measure of percent foreign born.Results: The results reveal that considerable insights are gained by distinguishing between diverse groups of immigrants. In particular, we find that all three strategies explained neighborhood crime levels better than the traditional approach.Conclusion: The findings underscore the necessity of disaggregating immigrant groups when exploring the immigration-crime relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When a community policing program named Why'd You Stop Me (WYSM) was implemented in Salinas, California, in 2016, a result of a series of police homicides of local Latino men 2 years prior, residents of this persistently criminalized Mexican-American community insistently refused it. Rather than accepting WYSM's securitized logic and affirming their own potential criminality, in their refusals and a series of related public actions, residents rendered legible the program's role in the lethal process of criminalization. While community policing strategies are often upheld as viable and empathic solutions for repairing fraught relations between officers and distrustful communities, they form a critical part of counterinsurgency tactics and occupy a key surveillance role in America's militarized and racialized policing project. America's racial empathy gap, as black feminist epistemologists have argued, is better conceived as an epistemology gap, an ignorance and unwillingness to know or accept as legitimate the experiences of communities of color both underserved and under siege by the state. This paper thus considers Salinans' refusals as epistemological interventions, activist attempts to make palpable the production of criminalization--including in its occasional masquerading as empathy--in the efforts of decriminalizing residents and building a healthy, livable community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Crime and safety are often cited as potential hurdles to park use and park-based physical activity. Using comprehensive data sources including both objective and subjective measurements at the park level and the individual level, this study aimed to assess the association between crime rates and use of local parks in low-income urban neighborhoods.Methods: The authors observed 48 parks and conducted local resident surveys in low-income neighborhoods in Los Angeles during a 2-year study period (2013-2015). Crime data were geocoded within a 1-mile radius of parks' addresses and longitudinal models were fitted to estimate the association between crime rates and park use outcomes in 2017.Results: One gun-related violent crime per 10,000 people during the 6-month period prior to data collection was associated with an average of 13.5%-15.8% reduction in observed park use and park-based moderate to vigorous physical activity (p<0.05) in the 6-month observation period. The relationship was significant in seniors (33%-40% reduction) and adults (13%-18%), but insignificant for teenagers (2%-4%) and children (10%-12%). Homicide rates were also significantly related to lower self-reported park use (p<0.05).Conclusions: Gun-related violent crimes have relatively long-term negative associations with population health by reducing utilization of outdoor park space. There can be additional population health benefits from controlling and reducing gun-related violent crimes beyond immediate impacts on public safety and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The utility of police consolidation, and in particular police contracting of services, has received widespread attention in academic and practitioner circles. However, the bulk of empirical research centers on potential fiduciary benefits; only limited scholarship has explored the possibility that changes in police services may correspond with differences in crimes solved and offenses observed. To address this gap, we examine consolidation in police services in a historically high crime, disadvantaged urban setting (Compton, California), which began contracting with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LACSD) after the closure of Compton Police Department in 2000.Methods: Independent samples difference in means tests are used to examine variations in crime clearance rates prior to and following the transition in Compton. Group-based trajectory analysis combined with difference-in-difference regression estimation is used to assess changes in criminal offenses while minimizing selection differences in comparison settings.Results: With the exception of homicide, clearance rates for six Part I crimes experienced statistically significant improvements in Compton’s post-contractual period. Additionally, while the vast majority of Part I offenses remained stable during the transition to LACSD policing, burglary crime rates experienced a statistically significant and sustained decline, net of controls.Conclusions: A primary concern with police contracting centers on a lack of local police control, disconnect between local needs and actual services provided, and the potential for backlash related to a reduction in the quality of police services. Our findings from Compton suggest that contracting with a well-resourced agency experienced in police consolidation has the ability to maintain and, in some circumstances, improve the quality of law enforcement services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to examine the factors contributing to the social isolation of older residents of a high-crime neighborhood through the in-depth examination of their lived experiences. A deeper understanding of factors contributing to social isolation can allow policymakers and health care providers to create policies and programs to alleviate the social isolation of these vulnerable and understudied individuals. Research Design and Methods: Participants were recruited through the support of the Housing Authority and Police and Fire Departments of Richmond, California, a town with a high-crime rate. Fifty-nine ethnographic interviews were conducted with 20 individuals of 58-95 years of age. Transcripts and fieldnotes were analyzed with a focus on the specific factors contributing the social isolation of participants. Results: An overarching theme of tension between personal and structural factors of social isolation and desire for social integration emerged from qualitative content analysis. A tension emerged between a longing to participate in society and the immersion in a reality so dense with obstacles that made participation in society difficult to attain. Four specific themes also emerged. Three themes demonstrated underlying factors of social isolation stemming from the personal sphere and the physical and social environment. The fourth theme illustrated participants' desire for social integration. Discussion and Implications: Findings demonstrate the salience of interventions and programs to make neighborhoods safe and accessible to older residents. Findings also suggest a need to reframe the conceptual framework for social isolation to better measure and alleviate this public health problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]