Integrating multi-source remotely sensed datasets to examine the impact of tree height and pattern information on crimes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

• Detailed tree pattern features were derived from multi-source remotely sensed data.
• Trees were divided into two types based on height to approximate view obstruction.
• Landscape pattern metrics were calculated to capture tree patch characteristics.
• Mixed effects are found with crime types and tree features (height and pattern).
• Spatial non-stationarity of tree pattern metrics were found across the entire city.

There have been a great number of debates about the impacts of trees on crimes: some researchers believed that trees are a crime facilitator because of the concealment provision for potential criminals, while others argued that they are a crime deterrent because of the increased surveillance possibility and the therapeutic effect on psychological fatigue. To better answer this question, this study incorporated detailed tree features by using multi-source remotely sensed data at a very high resolution into environmental criminology analysis across the entire City of Milwaukee. Trees were extracted from aerial photographs, and broken down into two categories based on their heights to consider the effects of tree height on view obstruction. By controlling for confounding socioeconomic variables, the relationship between crimes and a series of composition and configuration indicators of trees with different height were investigated by using global and local spatial regressions. Results from classic and spatial statistical techniques finds complicated relationship between crimes and trees, which can be summarized in two aspects. First, the mixed effects of trees can be observed among different crime types. Second, the trends of spatial nonstationarity of the composition and configuration of trees with different heights were observed across the entire study area. The study outcomes could provide reasonable implications for making appropriate policies for crime prevention through environmental design to strengthen neighborhoods and communities in a city.