Crime on public transport. Static and non-static (moving) crime events

This paper presents a theoretical discussion conceptualising some of the problems evident in analysing patterns of
crime and disorder on public transport, and the environments within which such crimes occur. The public transport
system is a multifaceted arena, with a complex interaction of settings (buses, trains and trams), facilities (stops,
stations and interchanges) and users (staff and passengers). The design of these facilities, and the internal (inside a
vehicle) and external (that a vehicle traverses) environments may all influence the level of crime experienced on the
system. Thus, examining the manifestation of crime on public transport systems becomes a highly complex process.
Current methods of crime analysis focus on ‘static’ crime events with a precise location (x,y co-ordinate). However
on public transport crime may occur on a moving vehicle (non-static), and it is difficult to define a single location
for this. For the purposes of analysis, it is contended that non-static crimes have a location, between two points and
two times, represented as a single snapshot of time. Thus, in addition to analysing static crime events (points and
areas), attention should also be focussed on how to analyse non-static (linear) crime events. Two possible
techniques for such analysis are presented, alongside a discussion of the difficulties in collecting accurate and
consistent data on crime on public transport. It is anticipated that an increase in the availability of such data will
enable future empirical testing of the ideas presented.