Community Correlates Of Crime And Law Enforcement Activities In Northwestern North Carolina

This study focuses upon selected areas within North Carolina in an attempt to establish the relationship between various community characteristics, data on the area law enforcementplanning regions in the state. The two regions were also compared to determine the regional differences in these relationships. The propositions examined in this study were derived from previous research. It was hypothesized that a positive relationship would be found between the degree of urbanization of a community and higher crime rates. A similar hypothesis was also tested purporting that communities experiencing ahigher percentage of population change would have higher crime rates. Racial differences in criminal activity were also tested in that communities with larger nonwhite populations were expected to experience higher crime rates.