Research team looks at crime patterns

University of North Alabama - Three University of North Alabama departments are working together on a research project to look at crime patterns in cities that have been struck by hurricanes.

The research is being done jointly by the university's geography, criminal justice and sociology departments and funded by a $350,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice.

"We want to know what crime was like before, during and after the hurricane happened," said Lisa Keys-Mattews, associate profession of geography at UNA. "This is something that no one has done before."

The research team will be looking at crime patterns that occurred in Mobile, Miami, Pensacola, Fla., Boca Raton, Fla., and Rocky Mount, N.C.

Keys-Matthews said the group selected cities struck by hurricanes that had enough time to overcome the disaster.

She said in the five selected cities, there are different sizes, different locations, hurricanes of different sizes and different cultural environments. Data is already being collected and reviewed.

"It's taken us the better part of seven months to collect the data; now we're in the processing mode," she said. "We're looking at three years of data - the year before the hurricane hit, the year it hit and the year after."

Philip Bridgmon, assistant professor and criminal justice department chairman, and Craig Robertson, chairman of the sociology department, are working on the project.

Bridgmon traveled to Mobile this summer to talk with law enforcement, elected officials and nonprofit organizations.

"It was a chance to get their perspectives on things that posed special problems for first responders after the hurricane hit," he said.

He said the goal of the project is to create a management series to help areas that are prone to hurricanes.

"We want to map out crime and how it relates to the socio-demographics of certain counties and cities," Bridgmon said. "We want to see how long it takes for communities to overcome these disasters."

Keys-Matthews said the research information will be supplied to cities that could be affected by a hurricane to help them make the situation a little more manageable.

"You can't beat a natural disaster; we just have to take it," Bridgmon said. "We're trying to find a way to deal situations left after the fact."

Tom Smith can be reached at 740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.