Tobacco Shops & Crime

Tobacco Shops & Crime

Tobacco shops associated with crime in urban communities of color. Tobacco shops, also known as smoke shops, may represent potential 'nuisance properties' in urban communities of color, a study has found. Nuisance properties are properties where unsafe activities affecting public health and safety occur repeatedly. The study focused on 2014 violent and property crime data from South Los Angeles, a large urban community whose homicide rate is nearly four times the national rate. Source 2y.