> Backgrounder 3: Institute for Canadian Urban Studies (ICURS)
Backgrounder 3: Institute for Canadian Urban Studies (ICURS)
Contact:
Paul Brantingham, 778.782.4175; paul_brantingham@sfu.ca
Patricia Brantingham, 778.782.3515; patricia_brantingham@sfu.ca
For more on the Brantinghams check: www.sfu.ca/aq/features/crime_fighters.html
Paul Brantingham, 778.782.4175; paul_brantingham@sfu.ca
Patricia Brantingham, 778.782.3515; patricia_brantingham@sfu.ca
For more on the Brantinghams check: www.sfu.ca/aq/features/crime_fighters.html
September 18, 2007
A brand new lab and $5 million worth of computing power and software (donated earlier this year by IBM) are taking crime pattern analysis at SFU to new levels.
Inside the ICURS lab, run by husband-wife criminologists Paul and Patricia Brantingham, researchers are determining how factors such as city design, road networks and even shopping mall hours affect the location, frequency and severity of urban crime.
Research in the high-security facility, well-fortified behind 16-guage sheet-steel walls, involves the use of RCMP and Vancouver Police Department data.The results will help shape new crime prevention policy and programs.
The Brantinghams both hold RCMP research chairs at SFU. Patricia, who specializes in computational criminology, has received international recognition for her work on offender target selection processes and the geography of crime. Paul specializes in crime analysis and prevention, including how the physical environment affects incidence and fear of crime.
Inside the ICURS lab, run by husband-wife criminologists Paul and Patricia Brantingham, researchers are determining how factors such as city design, road networks and even shopping mall hours affect the location, frequency and severity of urban crime.
Research in the high-security facility, well-fortified behind 16-guage sheet-steel walls, involves the use of RCMP and Vancouver Police Department data.The results will help shape new crime prevention policy and programs.
The Brantinghams both hold RCMP research chairs at SFU. Patricia, who specializes in computational criminology, has received international recognition for her work on offender target selection processes and the geography of crime. Paul specializes in crime analysis and prevention, including how the physical environment affects incidence and fear of crime.