Are There Non-Business Days for Crime? A Small-Area Bayesian Spatiotemporal Analysis of Crime Patterns

Criminal behavior may be different on weekends and holidays compared to business days. Understanding the distinctive crime patterns on non-business days is useful for crime research and crime control. This study contributes to the literature by explicitly investigating the small-area spatiotemporal variation in five types of major crimes between business days and non-business days using a Bayesian modeling approach in Old Toronto, Canada. The results show that criminal activity varies between business days and non-business days, influenced by the types of crimes, geographic locations, and local neighborhood characteristics. Compared to business days, on non-business days, southern areas with high business and entertainment activity exhibit increased assault and robbery levels, while northern residential areas experience reduced activity of break and enter, auto theft, and theft over $5,000. Nonetheless, spatial crime hot spots generally remain consistent between the two date categories, with some hot spots presenting an exacerbation of criminal activity during non-business days. A few sociodemographic variables and built environment features are associated with the spatiotemporal variation in crime. These findings demonstrate the spatiotemporal variation in criminal behavior and crime patterns between business days and non-business days and highlight the need for customized crime control measures at the small area level.