Abstract The study examined the broad crime trends and patterns, and the conditions under which

crimes flourish the crime incidence rates per 1,000 of population, and crime among the four police divisions of Accra, Ghana. Where crimes clustered the most and the times some crimes were committed were examined using the official police data. The study suggests that crime in Accra has been accentuated by rigid centralization of government bureaucracy, the nature of Ghanas economy, routine activities, lifestyles, and opportunities fostered by social change. Overall, the Accra Central Police Division recorded the highest volume of crimes, followed by the Nima, Kaneshie, and Kpeshie Divisions. The highest property offenses were recorded within twelve miles of the city centerthe area most congested and heavily concentrated with socio-economic and routine activities. Calls for the adoption of situational crime prevention methods and strategies to reduce the incidence of crime in Accra have been made. D 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Introduction This study examined the trends, patterns, and distribution of three distinctive years, studying the broad categories of offenses such as: assult, stealing, threat of harm,fraud,robbery,trespassing,unlawful entry, murder andfire out breaks and the conditions under which crimes flourish in Ashaiman. Ashaiman metropolis is a city of influx , the capital of crime Accra/west, and the largest city of the Republic of Ghana. Offenses under any one of the three broad categories may be serious and indictable, or nonserious summary (Ghana Publishing, The Criminal Code, Act 29, 1960; Twumasi, 1985). The study compared the crime rates among the four police divisions or precincts of Accra: the Accra Central, Kaneshie, Kpeshie, and Nima Divisions. The data examined here present a very detailed picture of the variations in the three broad offense categories across time and space in an urban setting rarely found in sub-Saharan Africa. It is argued that the crime patterns described reflect shifting socio-economic activities that have occurred in Accra, and that a theoretical approach to comprehend the crime variations over time that focuses on shifts in the distribution of opportunities, targets, and offenders would be the most reasonable approach. Such an interpretation is suggested, and the prevention strategies and tactics supported by such an understanding are sketched. The data for the study were the published annual police reports from 1980 to 1996 that were acquired from the Criminal Data Services Bureau of the Ghana Police Service in 1998 as part of the data collected for a Ph.D. dissertation at Simon Fraser University in Canada. The problems encountered with the data collection and those contained in the data themselves have extensively been discussed elsewhere so they need not be repeated here (AppiaheneGyamfi, 1998, 1999, 2002). One major setback, however, needs to be mentioned and or recognized when examining the crime trends and patterns in Accra using the official police and census data. That is, Accra is inundated by a large number of transient population, especially 0047-2352/02/$ see front matter D 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S0047-2352(02)00196-4 * 1204 DukeAvenue, McAllen, TX 78504, USA. Tel.: +1-956-316-7061; fax: +1-956-318-2490. E-mail address: appiahen@panam.edu (J. Appiahene-Gyamfi). Journal of Criminal Justice 31 (2003) 13 23 during the day, and during some seasons of the year, such as the Easter and Christmas holidays. The presence of the very large transient population in the city undoubtedly blurs the crime picture since the crime rates are based or computed on the resident population. As would be shown soon, the population of Accra has greatly increased over the years, but the figures cited by individuals, government officials, and officers of the Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA) have always been inconsistent with the figures published by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS). The police data for this study showed the total number of crimes or cases recorded for each year, their distribution among the three broad offense categories, specific offense categories, their distribution among the four police divisions, and the thirty-two police districts, stations, and posts. The official police data dealt with the name(s), gender, ethnicity, resident address(s) (if known) of the suspects; the type(s) of offense(s), date and place of arrest, time, and location of offense(s), and particulars of the

complainant(s) or victim(s); and the day and time the complaint or report was made to the police. Consistent with the rest of Ghana, the data for Accra were grouped under the following broad headings: (1) total cases reported, (2) cases refused, (3) true cases, (4) cases sent to court, (5) cases convicted, (6) cases acquitted, (7) cases pending for trial, (8) cases closed undetected, and (9) cases under investigation. The census data were acquired from the GSS, and dealt with the population of Accra, each police division, district, suburb, electoral area, and household.