Mobility and location choice of offenders

This chapter analyzes the main topics and questions about offender mobility and crime location choice in terms of individual motivations, resources, constraints, and decisions. It begins with a brief overview of the four main frameworks that have been used to theorize offender mobility and crime location choice. This is followed by a characterization of general human mobility as a series of cyclical movements between a limited set of anchor points, and a review of two research initiatives that collected detailed spatial and temporal information on offender mobility. The subsequent section addresses the extent to which offenders plan and prepare their crimes. The chapter also discusses two core elements in crime pattern theory, namely the facilities that attract offenders and offenses (crime generators and attractors) and awareness space. The final section discusses the spatial unit of analysis in offender mobility and location choice.