This video relates to the ideas behind supporting civic centers such as libraries and religious institutions. Kiran Bendi is a police chief in India, and she has implemented innovative strategies to reduce crime in her prison. Her strategies include daily prayer and meditation strategies with her prisoners to reduce crime. She explains that crime is caused by distortion of the mind, thus addressing issues of the mind with ideas such as meditation, reading, sense of community, etc. may aid in reducing criminal activity. Such such ideas could then be applied to our related Civic Centers Map- using community outreach to benefit in reducing incarcerations.
Crimes often occur in environments where there are congregations of people, such as bus stops or along bus routes. By locating the bus stops in Alachua county and analyzing the locations of convicted incarcerations with relation to their distance from the bus stops, we can accurately represent how they relate. We first looked at the amount of crimes within a mile of bus stops (RTS) in Alachua County. We found that 13,011 out of 25,788 crimes occur within a mile of bus stops. That’s almost half of all incarcerations. Out of those 13,011 crimes, 6141 crimes occur within 500 feet of bus stops. That means roughly 50% of all crimes that occur within a mile of bus stops also occur within 500 feet of bus stops as well. Furthermore, 500 feet is only about 9% of a mile, so this directly proves that crimes occur more often closer to bus stops than not. This data represented by the map and data shows us that there is a higher tendency for crimes to happen around bus stops. By discovering this information, we can now implement plans to reduce the amount of crimes around bus stops by introducing ideas such as increased surveillance of bus stops or a greater frequency of police patrolling around certain stops.
By analyzing convicted incarcerations within a one mile radius around farmers markets and fast food restaurants in Alachua County, this map reveals a pattern of more crime occurring in areas with less healthy food sources. Out of the total 25788 incarcerations, 5,758 were within a mile of a farmer’s market and 10,584 were within a mile of a fast food restaurant. The relationship between diet and crime is still being explored but as an institution, farmers markets help foster sustainable and nutritious food systems based on community support. Thus, we believe the availability of healthy food options is a key factor in reducing crime and incarceration rates in Alachua County.
The presence of civic institutions (in this analysis, libraries and religious centers) may play a vital role in the safety of communities and neighborhoods. In the above map, we located all the libraries and religious centers within Alachua County and compared them with the count of convicted incarcerations within each Census block. We allotted a half-mile radius around each civic institution- justifying their radii for an adequate 10 minute walk to or from a civic institution. In many cases there were overlaps among civic institutions, and these half-mile radii created “civic corridors” throughout the county.
Focusing on our major area of concern for convicted incarcerations, we analyzed how these “civic corridors” related to these blocks that contained higher conviction rates. We found that the blocks with a higher rate of convictions (blocks with convictions having counts of 106-269) were rarely within the radii of civic centers, and areas that were within the “civic corridor” had on average lower counts of crime.
Based on this information, it may be wise for Alachua County to invest a portion of its funding towards civic centers such as libraries and religious institutions. The sense of community brought from such centers may lead to a safer and more prideful neighborhood within Alachua County.
Using 2010 Census data, we divided the number of incarcerations by the population of each census block, showing the percentage of incarcerations based on population. This altered the appearance of certain key areas such as the Oaks Mall, which has one of the highest numbers of incarcerations but a lower percentage based on population of the surrounding area.
The above map depicts Alachua County, parceled into 2010 Census blocks. The Census blocks have been color coated to graphically depict convicted incarcerations within the County. Blocks with lower counts of convicted incarcerations are shown in the lighter shades of red, with blocks with higher counts of convicted incarcerations are shown with darker shades. Our map focused on areas by major landmarks like the University of Florida and I-75, as there were denser counts of convicted incarcerations per Census block.
URP 4273 Group 5 