Browsing by Author "Kovandzic, Tomislav"
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Item Beyond Motive: Situational Influences in Student Perpetrated Shootings(2019-12) Gammell, Sarah Patton; Kovandzic, Tomislav; Connell, Nadine M.Due to the reactive nature of school policies surrounding school shootings, such as the increased implementation of various security measures, it is important to understand whether these new approaches make a meaningful difference in school safety. Based in situational crime prevention techniques and guided by the theoretical basis found in routine activity theory, this paper will explore the potential effects that various situational security measures may have on the decision of school shooters, by examining how security measures affected outcomes of studentperpetrated school shootings. Of particular interest is whether the presence of these security measures impact the time and location of shooting incidents. Using data on K-12 school shootings in the United States from 2000-2016, this paper will extend the current literature by looking beyond the utility of security measures on campus crime and violence and narrow the focus to their effect on school shootings.Item Citation Release, Decarceration, and Crime in Washington, DC(2022-05-01T05:00:00.000Z) Riddell, Jordan; Worrall, John L.; Elliott, Euel W.; Vieraitis, Lynne M.; Jacobs, Bruce A.; Piquero, Alex R.; Kovandzic, TomislavIn March 2020, the Washington, DC, Metropolitan Police Department expanded its policeinitiated citation release to allow officers to release subjects arrested for certain non-violent felony offenses (ex: larceny-theft). This decarceration effort was designed to reduce COVID-19 transmission in jails and avoid maintaining custody of people pre-trial, as too many custodial arrests would impair the operations of the Superior Court of DC during the public health emergency. Using crime incident, arrest report, and jail population data from DC for 2013 through 2020, this dissertation investigates the effect of the citation release policy modification (i.e., jail decarceration) and arrests on four types of economic crime: robbery, burglary, theft from motor vehicles, and other theft. Vector autoregression analyses suggest arrests do not deter crime and there was no detectable “decarceration” effect from expanding citation release eligibility during the study period. Findings do not support macro-level deterrence theory or the premise of a decarceration effect that has been identified in studies of prisons.Item The Effect of Medical Marijuana Laws on Crime: Evidence from State Panel Data, 1990-2006(Public Library of Science, 2014-03) Morris, Robert G.; TenEyck, Michael; Barnes, James C.; Kovandzic, Tomislav; 0000 0003 5627 7714 (Barnes, JC); 0000 0000 5311 5742 (Kovandzic, T); 2011138406 (Barnes, JC); 2006005160 (Kovandzic, T); 87819498 (Murdoch, JC)Background: Debate has surrounded the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes for decades. Some have argued medical marijuana legalization (MML) poses a threat to public health and safety, perhaps also affecting crime rates. In recent years, some U.S. states have legalized marijuana for medical purposes, reigniting political and public interest in the impact of marijuana legalization on a range of outcomes. Methods: Relying on U.S. state panel data, we analyzed the association between state MML and state crime rates for all Part I offenses collected by the FBI. Findings: Results did not indicate a crime exacerbating effect of MML on any of the Part I offenses. Alternatively, state MML may be correlated with a reduction in homicide and assault rates, net of other covariates. Conclusions: These findings run counter to arguments suggesting the legalization of marijuana for medical purposes poses a danger to public health in terms of exposure to violent crime and property crimes.Item High-speed Rail in Texas: an Analysis of Public Opinion and Rural Opposition(2022-05-01T05:00:00.000Z) Johnson, Sara K; Elliott, Euel W.; Kovandzic, Tomislav; Boots, Denise Paquette; Scotch, Richard K.; D'Orazio, VitoHigh-speed rail is popular across Asia and Europe but not well utilized in the United States. The success of railway projects in the U.S. depends upon urban-rural cooperation as routes connecting cities require rural land. This study examines interest in high-speed rail using data from the UTDallas COMETrends research project, a content analysis of the Texans Against High-Speed Rail (TAHSR) Facebook page, and data from the Texas Community Leaders Project in order to determine public interest in high-speed rail and the role the urban-rural political divide may play in its establishment. The results indicate while rural or urban residency do not appear to impact perceptions of high-speed rail, political polarization may impact its successful implementation in the U.S. The content analysis determined that partisan messaging was used in TAHSR Facebook posts, but that framing high-speed rail as a Republican cause may boost support in counties with an overwhelming Republican majority. However, information from the Texas Community Leaders Survey revealed that rural leaders are not uniformly opposed to highspeed rail, resulting in questions regarding rural leadership to be explored in future research.Item Public Perceptions of the Connection Between Immigration and Crime(2022-05-01T05:00:00.000Z) Puddy, Haley Nicole; Worrall, John L.; Harris, Michelle; Kovandzic, Tomislav; Vieraitis, Lynne M.; Burton, Alexander L.A great deal of research has evaluated the relationship between immigration and crime and concluded that immigrations and immigration in the United States are negatively correlated to crime (Wolff et al., 2018; Bersani & DiPietro, 2016). Despite these conclusions, many people continue to hold harsh beliefs and opinions about immigrants (Jackson & Newell, 2018; Pryce, 2018; Alcalde, 2016). Previous research has found that providing information correcting misperceptions on the immigrant population has led to more positive attitudes and perceptions about immigrants in the United States (Carnahan et al., 2020; Grigorieff et al., 2020; Abascal et al., 2021). No research to date, however, has looked specifically at correcting the misperceptions on the immigration-crime relationship. The purpose of this study was to explore whether information on the immigration-crime relationship can affect people’s attitudes and perceptions on immigration and immigrants in the United States. In this information provision experiment, 296 participants from the Amazon Turks system were randomly assigned to receive an informational fact sheet on immigration and crime research or a control page. After receiving the fact sheet or control page, each participant answered questions on their beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, and opinions on various U.S. immigration topics. Results revealed that the presence of the fact sheet led to more positive attitudes and perceptions about immigrants and immigration in the United States. Further results are discussed.