The Canadian Geographer Le Géographe canadien The Canadian Geographer Le Géographe canadien Visualizing the directional bias in property crime incidents for five Canadian municipalities Richard Frank School of Criminology, Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University Martin A. Andresen School of Criminology, Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University Patricia L. Brantingham School of Criminology, Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University There are three interconnected and fundamental elements that define the spatiality of crime: places, distances, and directions. Over the past 180 years, research has flourished for the first two fundamental elements with relatively little research on directionality. In this article, we develop a visualization technique allowing for the display of the directional bias for a large number of offenders that aids in subsequent analysis. We show that a directional bias in criminal activity is present overall, but is not monolithic. Consequently, urban form and understanding place play a strong role in criminal directional biases for moving through our environments. Keywords: directionality, geography of crime, visualization Se repr´ esenter le biais directionnel de l’incidence du crime contre la propri´ et´ e dans cinq municipalit´ es canadiennes Il existe trois ´ el´ ements reli´ es et fondamentaux pour d´ efinir le rapport entre le crime et l’espace : les lieux, les distances et les directions. Au cours des 180 derni` eres ann´ ees, les recherches se sont multipli´ ees portant sur les deux premiers ´ el´ ements fondamentaux aux d´ epens de la question de la directionnalit´ e. Dans cet article, nous ´ elaborons une technique de repr´ esentation visuelle permettant de mettre en relief le biais directionnel d’un grand nombre de contrevenants dans l’optique d’am´ eliorer les analyses ult´ erieures. Il se d´ egage que, dans l’ensemble, un biais directionnel existe au niveau des activit´ es criminelles sans ˆ etre monolithique. Par cons´ equent, la forme urbaine et la connaissance du lieu jouent un rˆ ole de premier plan dans les biais directionnels de la criminalit´ e qui traversent nos milieux de vie. Mots cl´ es : directionnalit´ e, g´ eographie de la criminalit´ e, repr´ esentation visuelle Introduction Investigations into the geography of crime date back 180 years to the work of Quetelet (1831, 1842) and Guerry (1833). During the early twen- tieth century, the geography of crime followed the work of the Chicago School (Burgess 1916; Shaw and McKay 1931, 1942), but more recently much of this research has been undertaken un- der the auspices of environmental criminology Correspondence to/Adresse de correspondance: Martin A. Andresen, School of Criminology, Institute for Canadian Ur- ban Research Studies, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6. Email/Courriel: andresen@sfu.ca (Cohen and Felson 1979; Felson and Cohen 1980, 1981; Brantingham and Brantingham 1981, 1984; Clarke and Cornish 1985; Cornish and Clarke 1986). Because of this more recent work, our understanding of the geography of crime has advanced significantly in recent years (Ratcliffe 2002). Within the geography of crime research, there are three interconnected and fundamental el- ements: places, distances, and directions. 1 In- deed, the first two of these elements (place and 1 In other aspects of criminological research, offender and victim characteristics are the primary variables of interest. The Canadian Geographer / Le G´ eographe canadien 2013, 57(1): 31–42 DOI: 10.1111/j.1541-0064.2012.00450.x C  Canadian Association of Geographers / L’Association canadienne des g´ eographes