It Turns Out That Neighborhoods With Many Dogs Often Have The Lowest Crime Rates

LightItUp  - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purpose only, not the actual person
LightItUp - stock.adobe.com - illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

Dogs arguably make everything better. And according to a recent study published in Social Forces, that includes neighborhoods.

More specifically, researchers from the University of Ohio found that more dogs in a neighborhood often point to lower incidences of crime.

The study, entitled “Paws on the Street,” analyzed crime statistics for nearly six hundred Columbus, Ohio, neighborhoods from 2014 to 2016.

These stats were cross-referenced against survey data asking Columbus residents if they had a dog.

The researchers also used data from an Adolescent Health and Development Context study to ascertain the amount of trust people had in their neighborhoods.

They found that neighborhoods with higher levels of trust unsurprisingly had lower levels of crime, including homicide, robbery, and aggravated assault.

Interestingly, though, the study also revealed that the presence of dogs in a neighborhood lowers these crime rates even further.

In fact, high-trust neighborhoods with high concentrations of dogs had about sixty-six percent of the robbery rates of neighborhoods with low amounts of dogs. The dog-heavy neighborhoods also had half the homicide rates.

Nicolo Pinchak, the study’s lead author, explained how seeing other people walking their dogs is almost a psychological safety net– encouraging trust and lowering crime.

LightItUp – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purpose only, not the actual person

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“Trust doesn’t help neighborhoods as much if you don’t have people out there on the streets noticing what is going on. That’s what dog walking does,” Pinchak began.

“When people are out walking their dogs, they have conversations; they pet each other’s dogs,” Pinchak continued.

“Sometimes, they know the dog’s name and not even the owners. They learn what is going on and can spot potential problems.”

And aside from homeowners’ sense of trust and security, a significant presence of dogs also discourages criminals from targeting the neighborhood.

Not only will barking alert the community of an intrusion, but there is also a fear of being bitten involved.

In turn, Pinchak believes that his study is just more proof of why dogs are unlike any other pet.

“There has already been a lot of research that shows dogs are good for the health and well-being of their human companions. Our study adds another reason why dogs are good for us,” Pinchak said.

To read the study’s complete findings, visit the link here.

If true crime defines your free time, this is for you: join Chip Chick’s True Crime Tribe.

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Katharina Buczek graduated from Stony Brook University with a degree in Journalism and a minor in Digital Arts. Specializing ... More about Katharina Buczek

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