Tourism, Security and Safety From Theory to Practice

Table 1
Origin of Tourist Victims
Origin
N
Percent
California
70
13
Foreign nationals
65
12
Texas
58
11
Florida
40
7
New York
32
6
Georgia
24 4
Illinois
21
4
Mississippi
19
3
Alabama
19
3
Other states
204
37
Total
552
100
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the Fabourg Marigny residential areas bounding the French Quarter on the East
and North flanks. Other robbery sites with similar characteristics included a park-
ing garage (2%), parking lots (2%), a cemetery (8%), and a park (4%). By contrast,
Bourbon and Royal Streets are well lighted, have heavy pedestrian traffic and
numerous police foot and mounted patrols, and, with the exception of pickpockets,
are virtually crime free.
Table 2 provides data on the time of day of occurrence of the robberies. Street
robbery in the French Quarter is, not surprisingly, a nighttime activity with 3 out
of 4 nighttime robberies occurring between midnight and six 
AM
. The French
Quarter bars and clubs are, for the most part, open 24 hours a day and 7 days a
week. Midnight to 6 
AM
finds mostly tourists (a few tourism workers) and the
potential predators on the street.
The physical features of locations where robberies occur seem to support a
nonrandom hot spot pattern influenced by certain population and physical char-
acteristics of the French Quarter and surrounding areas. The French Quarter is a
Tourism, Security and Safety: From Theory to Practice
130
Figure 1
Typical 90-day robbery pattern, New Orleans, 2000–2001.
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grid of narrow, dimly lit streets. The architecture throughout the area is ancient and
similar and for many visitors somewhat disorienting. It is an adult tourist attraction
where people overeat, overdrink, and generally have a great time. Bourbon Street is
the entertainment heart of the French Quarter and as mentioned earlier, is relatively
crime free with the exception of pickpocketing.
Two thirds (368) of the robberies reported in this study occurred on side streets
away from the main areas of pedestrian traffic. Seventy-six percent of the victims
reported that they were walking back to their hotels or to another entertainment
venue. In 37% of these robberies the location of the robbery event would indicate
that the victim was either lost or not being completely truthful about where he was
going (the robbery occurred outside of, and away from, areas where hotels, restau-
rants, and other entertainment venues are located). With only one major exception,
hotels are located outside the Bourbon Street entertainment corridor and thus the
tourist must walk to and from his or her hotel. While there are some smaller hotels
within the French Quarter, the larger hotels are located on the middle to lower
Canal Street perimeter of the area. Getting back to one’s hotel can present a prob-
lem even for a cold-sober visitor to the city. Tourists often remark how easy it is to
get turned around in the Vieux Carré.
The behavioral context of all the robberies in this study suggests what Katz
(1988, p. 170) refers to as 
contextual weaknesses
. This notion may be applied to
the present cases in a number of ways. First, as was mentioned earlier, 60% of the
incidents occurred between midnight and 5:59 
AM
. The potential victim is return-
ing to his hotel in a strange city, most likely fatigued and under the influence of
alcohol, winding through dark and unfamiliar streets.
Many of the circumstances surrounding the incidents clearly increased the vic-
tim’s vulnerability to attack. Police reports indicate that in at least 20% of all rob-
bery events the victims had developed some relationship with the offender before
the robbery. In 40% of these instances the victim went with the offender to get a
woman. In another 40% the victim went with the offender to purchase drugs. In
another 10% the victim reported going with the offender to the housing projects
(no reason specified). And in one case the victim, after having sex with a man she
The Tourist and His Criminal: Patterns in Street Robbery 
131