Wouter Steenbeek

Tagline:Senior researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), a research institute of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Amsterdam, Nederland

About Me

I am a senior researcher at the Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), a research institute part of the Foundation for Dutch Scientific Research Institutes (NWO-I).

Most of my work is on the 'geography of crime'. I describe spatial and temporal variations in crime, and explain these variations as a function of the characteristics of places and of how potential offenders, potential victims, informal and formal guardians use their spatial environment over daily and weekly time cycles.

Research Interests

Criminology
Spatio-temporal patterns
Causal analysis
Machine Learning
Quantitative research methods
Statistical software R

Education

PhD
from: 2006, until: 2011
Field of study:SociologySchool:Department of Sociology/Interuniversity Centre for Social Science Theory and Methodology (ICS)Location:Utrecht University
MSc
from: 2000, until: 2004
Field of study:Business InformaticsSchool:Utrecht University
Propedeuse
from: 2000, until: 2001
Field of study:Information ScienceSchool:Utrecht University

Software

NearRepeat
Date: Oct 2019
Status:Issued.
Inventors:
Wouter Steenbeek
Description:
An R package of the (Monte Carlo permutation based) Knox test for space-time clustering to quantify the spatio-temporal association between events.

Link to Github
sppt: Spatial Point Pattern Test
Date: Mar 2018
Status:Issued.
Inventors:
Wouter Steenbeek
Description:
Implements several area-based tests that measure the degree of similarity at the local level between two spatial point patterns.

Link to Github
lorenzgini
Date: Mar 2018
Status:Issued.
Description:
Calculates the standard Gini coefficient as well as the generalized coefficient, and plots Lorenz curves. The Lorenz plots show the line of maximal equality given the data.

Link to Github

Publications

Unpacking Assaults Against Police Officers: The Role of Officers’ Own Direct and Network Exposure to Assault
Journal ArticlePublisher:Victims & OffendersDate:2025
Authors:
Isabo GoormansArjan BloklandWouter SteenbeekChristophe Vandeviver
DOI
How assaults against police officers unfold: identifying incident scenarios using latent class and latent transition analysis
Journal ArticlePublisher:Policing: An International JournalDate:2025
Authors:
Isabo GoormansArjan BloklandWouter SteenbeekChristophe Vandeviver
DOI
Rational Choice on a Hacker Forum: The Effect of Risk and Reward Cues on Target Selection for Account Hijacking
Journal ArticlePublisher:Deviant BehaviorDate:2025
Authors:
Danielle StibbeStijn RuiterWouter SteenbeekAsier Moneva
DOI
Sweeter than honey: Are Gmail accounts associated with greater rewards at a higher risk of hijacking?
Journal ArticlePublisher:Computers in Human Behavior ReportsDate:2024
Authors:
Danielle StibbeStijn RuiterWouter SteenbeekAsier Moneva
DOI
Offender residence locations: exploring the impact of spatial scale on variability and concentration
Journal ArticlePublisher:Journal of Spatial Information ScienceDate:2024
Authors:
Monsuru AdepejuSamuel LangtonWouter Steenbeek
DOI