Where, when and how is crime committed?

One of the key questions of NSCR research focuses on where, when and how crimes are committed. Why does crime concentrate in certain locations rather than in others? Is it because offenders happen to know these locations, as they are close to their home, job or (previous) school? Data from crime scenes and activity patterns of perpetrators and victims provide insight into the underlying choice behaviour of perpetrators.

We investigate the way in which crimes are committed and in which situational context: are bystanders and law enforcement officers present and do they have an (active) role? Carefully studying and analysing CCTV footage is a game changer for the study of crime. Researchers see real-time how situations unfold and can thus study and unravel the behaviour of perpetrators, victims and bystanders.

Program leader: Stijn Ruiter

Short intensive course: Systematic Video Observation and Analysis of Human Conflict

13 October 2020

Systematic video observation is a methodology developed as a joint venture of scholars from criminology, anthropology, psychology, ethology, and sociology over the last five years. The course is therefore also set up as a joint venture between the scholars that have been involved in this development. They will take on the role of instructors in […]

Growing up in a single-parent family increases the risk of criminal behaviour during adolescence

12 October 2020

In the European Union and the United States 15 and 27% of children, respectively, grow up in a single-parent family. Although the proportion of single-parent families has remained stable in recent decades, a clear shift is visible in how single-parent families come into being: this happens more often due to a divorce or with the […]

Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard professor by special appointment of Dynamics of Crime and Violence

30 September 2020

How do crime and violence develop in sequences of interactions? What do people do if they become involved in such interactions and how can we understand and explain their behaviours? What are the consequences of their actions for the safety of all those involved and how can crime and violence be managed and controlled? These […]

Compliance, busyness and social distancing during the requirement to wear a face mask

20 September 2020

By analysing images from security cameras in the face mask areas before and after the requirement to wear face masks and comparing these with areas where there was no such requirement, people’s behaviour could be accurately described. The research examined the wearing of face masks, busyness and changes in busyness, and compliance with the 1.5 […]

Scientifically strengthen police research and practice

24 August 2020

The research program is in line with the Strategic Research Agenda for the Police, and examines how police action works, in what circumstances those action work, for whom, and by whom it works. NSCR uses advanced scientific methods and the latest, current insights and theories, applied to the Dutch context. The program takes research into […]

Real-life observations of social distance in public: do people actually do it?

6 April 2020

Rosenkrantz Lindegaard and Snoek draw on full time recordings of 55 surveillance cameras in Amsterdam to identify hotspots for rule-breaking of the social distancing measures. For their analysis, they apply video artificial intelligence and systematic behavioral coding, in order to establish where in the city people tend to break the rules, e.g. gather in groups […]

Young people use alcohol and drugs while hanging out with peers

15 March 2020

Most prior studies on adolescent substance focus on the individual but not on the setting. For example, adolescents who spend more time with peers are known to be more likely to use alcohol and drugs. It is typically assumed but not verified that alcohol and drugs use actually takes place during the time spent with […]

The Human Factor of Cybercrime

5 December 2019

As a result, human decision-making plays a substantial role in the course of an offence, the justice response, and policymakers’ attempts to legislate against these crimes. This book focuses on the human factor in cybercrime: its offenders, victims, and parties involved in tackling cybercrime. Traditional criminal or new offender types? The distinct nature of cybercrime […]

Peter van der Laan appointed as interim director NSCR

10 October 2019

Peter van der Laan studied special education at Leiden University. In 1991, he gained his doctorate for a thesis entitled Experimenteren met alternatieve sancties voor jeugdigen (Experimenting with alternative sanctions for juveniles). For many years, he has carried out research in the area of child protection, juvenile deliquency and (youth) criminal law. From 1981 to […]

Where, when and how is crime committed?

Program leader: Stijn Ruiter

Short intensive course: Systematic Video Observation and Analysis of Human Conflict

Growing up in a single-parent family increases the risk of criminal behaviour during adolescence

Marie Rosenkrantz Lindegaard professor by special appointment of Dynamics of Crime and Violence

Compliance, busyness and social distancing during the requirement to wear a face mask

Scientifically strengthen police research and practice

Real-life observations of social distance in public: do people actually do it?

Young people use alcohol and drugs while hanging out with peers

The Human Factor of Cybercrime

Peter van der Laan appointed as interim director NSCR

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