Description[]
Crime events require a minimum Crime Rate in a city before it will trigger. Certain buildings raise the Crime Rate, certain buildings lower the Crime Rate. So you are less likely to get a theft in a city with a lot of law buildings than you are in a city with a Gambling House, Market, Smugglers' Port, etc.
There is global Crime Rate which is applied to the entire world, and each city has a random initial Crime Rate when it is built (which can be modified by buildings). The global Crime Rate is affected by some Undercouncil resolutions.
Kael's Notes[]
The Crime Rate was created so that Crime events are more likely to occur in places players would expect to see them. To make the specific situation influence the events instead of having them be purely random. It is a flavor mechanic and isn't expected to play a strong strategic role in the game (players shouldn't feel forced to make anti-Crime buildings just to get the Crime Rate down).