Finnur Vidarsson
Faculty Sponsor: Dr. Mindy Adnot
This poster represents the crime rate in Charlotte-Mecklenburg county from 2011-2016, excluding data from 2014 and 2012. The data was downloaded from the Charlotte/Mecklenburg Quality of Life Explorer website. As one of the fastest growing commuting zone in North-America I found it interesting to research how the crime rate might have changed in the area. There was not a significant growth in the crime rate from 2011 to 2016, however the median crime rate has increased for both violent- and property crimes. Violent offenses include aggravated assault, armed robbery and strong arm robbery, homicide, negligent manslaughter, and rape and attempted rape . Property offenses include arson, burglary and attempted burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft . Areas with higher crime rates tend to be the same from year to year and are located in or around downtown Charlotte. Some areas with higher crime rates overlap areas that have lower employment. That suggests that there might be some relation between higher crime rates and lower employment. Since Charlotte is one of the fastest growing cities I was also interested to look at areas that have proportionately increased their residents the most. It turns out that the suburbs of Charlotte have had the most population growth. Most areas in or around downtown Charlotte have a low or negative population growth.