The spatial distribution of crime and population density in Saudi Arabia
This study examined the relationship between crime and place across the 13 provinces of Saudi Arabia using geographic information systems techniques based on population density, identifying and visualising the spatial distributions of national and regional crime rates for drug crimes, theft, murder, assault, alcohol and 'outrageous crimes' (offences against Islam) over a 10-year period from 2003 to 2012. Social disorganisation theory was employed to guide the study and explain the diversity in patterns in crime across the country. The highest rates of overall crimes were identified in the Northern Border and Jizan areas, located in the north and south of the country, respectively, while the East Area has the lowest crime rate. Most drug offences occurred in Northern Borders and Jizan, high rates of theft were recorded in Northern
Spatio-temporal Changes on Crime Patterns in Saudi Arabia from 2003 - 2012
This study aims to determine the trends of overall crime and in six crime categories of drug-related activity, theft, murder, assault, alcohol and outrageous or sex related crime, in Saudi Arabia's thirteen provinces over a ten year period from 2003 to 2012. Two different approaches were used in the study: spatial and temporal changes of criminal cases. Spatial changes were used to determine the differences over the time period of 2003 - 2012 to show the provincial rates of change for each crimen category. Temporal changes were used to compute the trends of overall crime and crimes in the six categories per 1,000 people per year. Results showed that the overall rate of crimes increased steadily until 2008, thereafter, decreasing, except in Northern Borders and Jizan, which recorded the highest rate of crime throughout the period. We have explained that decrease in terms of changes in wages, support for the unemployed and service improvements, as emphasized by previous studies are the primary cause for the decrease. This study includes a detailed discussion to contribute to an understanding of the changes of rates of crime in these categories throughout this period in the thirteen provinces.
Are Immigrants More Likely to Be Involved in Criminal Activity in Saudi Arabia?
This paper aims to explain the effects of immigration on the overall crime rate and in the six most significant categories of crime in Saudi Arabia, being drugs activity, theft, murder, assault, alcohol and outrageous issues, during a ten-year period from 2003 to 2012, in all thirteen administrative provinces, as well as establish the provinces most affected by criminal activities of immigrants during this period. In our finding, no positive association between immigrants and criminal cases was noted. It is clearly visible that the highest rate of overall criminal activities is in the south, north and Makkah areas, where there is high probability of illegal immigrants, supporting the basic criminological theory that areas with high levels of immigrants also experience high rates of crime. The study provides suggestions to the Saudi government, policy and decision makers, and immigration authorities, which could assist in reducing crimes perpetrated by immigrants.