The increase and reoccurrence of crime in certain areas has led to the naming of such places as crime hot spots. Crime hot spots are mapped areas experiencing an increased intensity in crime. As a means of making clear identification of crime-prone areas in an urge to reduce incidences of crime a technique; crime mapping has been developed for use in curbing crime. Crime mapping is a technique used by the law enforcement agencies in visualizing and analyzing certain areas in a map considered to be crime hot spots, with the identification of crime patterns and trends prevalence in such areas (Weisburd, 2015). Crime mapping plays a vital role to police officials and patrol officers, especially in the identification and formulation of appropriate strategic responses in an urge to reduce crime in hot spots and the surrounding areas. Crime never occurs evenly in an area, and thus, the approach given to an area remains unique (Chainey & Ratcliffe, 2013). Crime mapping, therefore, provides sufficient information about the appropriate technique necessary for implementation in a certain area.
Over the years, studies done to determine aspects of crime prevalence and the possible mitigation strategies have revealed that police and patrol officials have the capacity to effectively address the crime menace (Chainey & Ratcliffe, 2013). With the application of hot spots policing, a strategy that involves police focus on small geographical units experiencing high crime rates, it is possible to mitigate the recurrent crime incidences in certain prevalent areas. In an area such as Minneapolis, areas that experience increased incidences of crime are those with populations as well as low standards of living attributed to unemployment. On the contrary, high-end areas tend to experience significantly reduced crime incidences, an aspect pointing to the fact that economic demographics play a significant role in determining the occurrence of crime hot spots (He & Páez, 2016). Areas with poor living conditions and high populations experience high crime incidences as residents try to make ends meet, though through the criminal means. The common types of crime experienced in the area include violent and property, with incidences of property crimes exceeding those involving violence (Ratcliffe, 2000). Ideally, such crime data attributes to the fact that common incidences of crime are committed by inexperienced individuals, whose main intention is to have a meal on their table (Braga, 2007). Moreover, a majority of the crimes are petty crimes pickpocketing.
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From an analytical perspective, a majority of the crimes occur during the evening and the early night hours. Despite the fact that most incidences occur during the weekends, there are minor occurrences across the week. Unlike the previous times when most of the offenders went away with the crimes, the application of crime mapping strategies has played a vital role in the reduction of crime incidences in the area. With the identification and analysis of the crime hot spots, police officers, and other patrol agents have established patrol bases resulting in an increase of their presence in the area, thus contributing to a significant reduction in crime incidences (Ratcliffe, 2000). Furthermore, the community has equally been of great importance in the war against crime. With their collaboration with the law enforcement agencies and application of crime mapping strategies, Minneapolis crime hot spots have contributed to a significant reduction in crime incidences in the area. Ideally, hot spot policing has provided an opportunity for identification of areas of high crime concentration with an equal opportunity in developing appropriate mitigation strategies.
References
Braga, A. A. (2007). Policing Crime Hot Spots. Preventing Crime, 179-192
Chainey, S., & Ratcliffe, J. (2013). Identifying Crime Hotspots. GIS and Crime Mapping Chainey/GIS and Crime Mapping, 145-182.
He, L., & Páez, A. (2016). Persistence of Crime Hot Spots: An Ordered Probit Analysis. Geographical Analysis Geogr Anal .
Ratcliffe, J. (2000). Implementing and Integrating Crime Mapping into a Police Intelligence Environment. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 2 (4), 313-323.
Weisburd, D. (2015). Small Worlds of Crime and Criminal Justice Interventions: Discovering Crime Hot Spots. Envisioning Criminology, 261-267.
