Research:
An Analysis of National Hockey League Playoff Games and City-Level Crime Counts (with Dr. Jacob Kaplan)
Past research indicates that when professional sports games are played, crime increases. Yet, little is known about how playoff games affect crime. As many criminal events associated with sports games, such as riots, occur during playoff games, this is an important gap in the literature. Using data from 15 National Hockey League (NHL) teams from 2013 through 2019, we examine how assault, disorder, and property crimes change when playoff games are played at home relative to when they are played away. We find that during home games there are 7% more disorder crimes and 4% more property crimes than during away games which suggests that city responses to playoff hockey games should prioritize crime reduction strategies to improve public safety.
Read the full manuscript here
Accepted in 2022 in Crime & Delinquency
Professional Sports and Crime: Do Professional Hockey Games Increase City-Level Crime Rates?
Previous research has found that sports games increase certain crimes including theft and vandalism, but the relationship between sports and other offenses such as motor vehicle theft, robbery, and assaults is mixed. Using regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game data and city-level, incident-level crime data from four large U.S. cities, this paper estimates if professional ice hockey games played at home is associated with increases in property crimes, alcohol-related crimes, and assaults during and right after games the over course of four NHL seasons. Results show that NHL games lead to small but significant increases in property crimes and assaults. There is no significant effect for alcohol-related crimes. Implications and suggestions for future work are discussed.
Read the full manuscript here
Published in 2021 in Crime & Delinquency
An Analysis of National Hockey League Playoff Games and City-Level Crime Counts (with Dr. Jacob Kaplan)
Past research indicates that when professional sports games are played, crime increases. Yet, little is known about how playoff games affect crime. As many criminal events associated with sports games, such as riots, occur during playoff games, this is an important gap in the literature. Using data from 15 National Hockey League (NHL) teams from 2013 through 2019, we examine how assault, disorder, and property crimes change when playoff games are played at home relative to when they are played away. We find that during home games there are 7% more disorder crimes and 4% more property crimes than during away games which suggests that city responses to playoff hockey games should prioritize crime reduction strategies to improve public safety.
Read the full manuscript here
Accepted in 2022 in Crime & Delinquency
Professional Sports and Crime: Do Professional Hockey Games Increase City-Level Crime Rates?
Previous research has found that sports games increase certain crimes including theft and vandalism, but the relationship between sports and other offenses such as motor vehicle theft, robbery, and assaults is mixed. Using regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game data and city-level, incident-level crime data from four large U.S. cities, this paper estimates if professional ice hockey games played at home is associated with increases in property crimes, alcohol-related crimes, and assaults during and right after games the over course of four NHL seasons. Results show that NHL games lead to small but significant increases in property crimes and assaults. There is no significant effect for alcohol-related crimes. Implications and suggestions for future work are discussed.
Read the full manuscript here
Published in 2021 in Crime & Delinquency
