Malicious hoax calls and suspicious fires : an examination of their spatial and temporal dynamics / Jonathan Corcoran ... [et al.].

Canberra : Australian Institute of Criminology, 2013.

83944

Hoaxes -- Telephone calls.

Malicious mischief -- Telephone calls.

Arson.

Crime prevention -- Research -- Australia.

Malicious hoax calls for service and suspicious fires are a significant burden to the community financially and in the potential danger they present, yet little is known about the dynamics associated with their prevalence. The present research is the first of its kind in Australia to comprehensively examine these offences using unit-level location data supplied by the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service. The aim of this research is to identify the temporal and spatial patterning of malicious hoax calls and suspicious fires. Analyses employed advanced methods of geographic visualisation and statistics to track the changing spatial patterns of these events over 13 years. Understanding the patterning of fire events provides an evidence base for initiatives designed to reduce the incidence of hoax calls for service and suspicious fires.

Title from title caption of PDF document (viewed on October 21, 2013).

"July 2013".

Includes bibliographical references (p. 5).

Text and tables.

1836-2206