Professor Andresen given WSC Fellows Award

Professor Martin Andresen is the recipient of the 2016 Western Society of Criminology Fellows Award.

"Martin Andresen has provided us with continually more nuanced understandings of the spatial and temporal nature of crime. His recognition as a Fellow of the Western Society is an indication of the influence that his work has had on the field of criminology, and in particular, on the study of crime within the western regions of Canada and the United States," says Neil Boyd, director of SFU's School of Criminology.

Andresen is known for his contributions to the geography of crime, particularly his research around spatial crime analysis. His work uses and develops spatial statistical analysis for better understanding patterns of crime. Using Vancouver Police Department and Royal Canadian Mounted Police data unique to SFU's Institute for Canadian Urban Research Studies (ICURS), housed in the School of Criminology, Andresen has been able to apply or contribute to a variety of different literatures.

"One of my specific contributions to this body of research is showing the importance of analyzing crime patterns from a disaggregate point of view. A lot of people analyze crime in general, but one of the things that I've done is to analyze the individual crime types at the micro-spatial scale. It shows that different crime types have different levels of concentrations, but also that they have different trajectories over time," says Andresen.

Andresen's research helps to identify street segments most afflicted with crime. This has the potential to aid crime prevention because organizations can identify the most problematic areas and apply actions to reduce crime in these locations first.

 "It's very nice and quite flattering that my colleagues, who have international reputations as scholars, think highly enough of the work I do that it justifies an award like this one," says Andresen.

Several affiliates of the School of Criminology have received The Fellows Award in past years: Neil Boyd (07-08), Kim Rossmo (97-98), Paul J. Brantingham (95-96) and Duncan Chappel (85-86).

The Fellows Award is given annually for individuals generally associated with the Western region who have made important contributions to the field of criminology.