The Influence of the Local Nodes on the Pattern of Theft Distribution: A Case Study of Birjand

The methodology of this study is analytical – adaptive; and application from its target point of view. The defined population is all robberies occurred in Birjand during a period of 18 months; including 2530 cases of theft. The growth of 2.5 times in the number of theft cases in one year, and obtaining the second position among the crimes of Birjand, are the main reasons for choosing this case study. The method used to collect data is documentary; and in order to identify and analyze the pattern of theft distribution of nodes, in the range of offenses, close models and kernel density test is used. Finally, analyses are shown on maps with the scale of 1/20000. It is meant to show the relation between creative patterns of city appearance, especially the pattern of crimes, with the nodes, by using the concept of nodes in two different aspects of the population nodes and the traffic nodes. The results show that nearly 65 percent of all thefts in Birjand occur in the nodes neighboring, 35 percent of which in the area of traffic nodes and 30 percent in the area of other nodes. The nodes 100 and 200 m from the center is dedicated to the highest rate of robbery. To sum it up, according to everyday activity theory, crime offenders perform their crimes during their daily lives and in their own business, leisure and traffic nods. So the police can take basic steps to prevent robbery by controlling intersections and populated nodes.