The relationships between crime, the setting of the crime, and the envi
ronment of the criminal's background are longstanding topics in sociologica
research (e.g., White 1932). Only recently have attempts been made to refinc
the study of crime ecology by examining more precisely the settings in whick
criminal acts have occurred (e.g., Ley and Cybriwsky 1974) and users' percep-
tions of crime risk in different settings (Nasar 1982). The difficulties of classi-
fying the complex and dynamic urban environment, and the suspect sample
validity of police reports of crimes have been major obstacles to this research
(e.g., O'Donnel and Lydgate 1980). There are currently no widely accepted
data on the incidence of crime in urban parks, and no sound basis for compar-
ing the risk of crime in urban parks with risk in other public and private set-
tings. Also, some behavior that is threatening to other users may not be
classified as criminal.
The absence of good information, and the extensive press coverage
given some crimes occurring in public places like parks, have established pos-
sibly undeserved reputations for parks as high risk crime areas. These reputa-
tions discourage many potential site visitors from using and enjoying available
recreation resources. For instance, an American Parks and Recreation survey
(Conners 1976) found that 35 percent of park managers reported park under-
use due to the likelihood of criminal activity in the parks. A self-fulfilling
prophecy occurs when underuse is severe, for the park may indeed become at-
tractive to undesirable persons seeking privacy for unacceptable activities
(Jacobs 1961)