Vehicle theft in Seattle, WA, increased in 2016 compared to previous years. According to the West Seattle blog (http://westseattleblog.com/), car thefts in King County (Seattle area) increased by 18.9% during the first four months of 2016 compared to the first four months of 2015 - from about 2,500 to about 2,900. By the end of the year, Seattle had experienced over 7,000 vehicle thefts in 2016. Understanding more about where these thefts occurred can be of assistance to local police and city officials. However, knowing where vehicle theft occurs doesn't necessarily help us understand why it is occurring. Using spatial statistics tools provided by ArcGIS allows analysts and officials to understand where vehicle theft occurs, but also where they cluster, and which variables explain why they occur.

This chapter will differ somewhat from the previous chapters in a number of ways. First, rather than providing a specific set of steps...