Criminal Behavior Observation

Observing different block faces within an area allows the observer to conclude whether the conditions of the area play a role in the fear of crime. While observing three different block faces, one in Lakewood and two in Denver, there were different, noticeable characteristics of these neighborhoods that allowed for the assumption of fear or crime; using both qualitative and quantitative data allowed for the conclusions made. For the qualitative data, our group used different observations such as the landscape, pedestrian traffic characteristics, and characteristics of the individuals who were in that area, such as: race, gender, and age. For the quantitative data, we focused our observations more towards the physical and social disorder within
to W 16th Ave. in Lakewood, CO. Looking at the physical disorder of this location, I observed that there was litter on the street, empty beer bottles, and graffiti. With regards to the social disorder, I observed two gentlemen drinking alcohol at their apartments and one individual, who I assume was sleeping, intoxicated outside of a vacant store. The second location observed was Holden Pl from Federal Blvd to Decatur St in Denver, CO. For the physical disorder, I did observe litter on the street as well as empty beer bottles, but surprisingly, I did not observe any social disorder. Finally, the third location observed was Perry Street from W 6th Ave. N Dr. to W 7th Ave. This location has a liquor store and a small corner store on Perry Street, and the only physical disorder that I noticed was litter on the sidewalk and no social disorder was
According to Kris, the Aurora Mall had more minority individuals speaking Spanish while the Cherry Creek Mall had more of those individuals who felt “entitled” wanting things to be done their way. Kris also noticed that there were more youth during the afternoon hours in the Aurora Mall. From the information provided by Kris, I can assume that the fear of crime in those two areas is low. However she mentioned that during the afternoon the Aurora Mall tends to me more of a chill zone for youth, there could be some fear of crime from older shoppers. The fear of crime I could picture here is fearing that youth could steal their wallets or purse, their shopping bags, something along those lines. One thing I’d like to point out that relates more towards the level of crime would be the difference in the malls with regards to what is “open” and what is not; Aurora mall is completely closed, while Cherry Creek mall closes their inside shops, but people can still access the inside of the mall. According to this information provided, it shows that the level of crime must be higher in Aurora than in Cherry