Abstract
Crime has the ability to interrupt and mess up communities in different ways. Notably, crime brings to the fore the feelings of fear as well anger, increases vulnerability, and in many instances, results in consequences that linger for a long time after the crime has occurred. Law enforcement agencies tasked with protecting the society often try to combat and curb crimes before they actually take place. They utilize tactics that can predict future criminal events or behavior. Often, it looks like law enforcement agencies have addressed a certain concern and snuffed out crime in a particular area only to come and realize that it has instead been pushed into another society. This study examines crime in its entirety and tries to offer answers for the continuing research, as well as execution of new policies. It offers various examples which point out the various elements that have influenced how the society recognizes crime and crime dislocation.
Introduction
Prevention of crime calls for all law enforcement agencies to be aware of the various underlying crime issues and take action on the basis of the educated assumptions related to those criminal attributes. More examination shows some serious attributes regarding offenders, as well as the various locations where they considered as their perfect places of committing crime undetected, as well as the victims of their crimes. Victimization patterns within areas mapped out as crime hotspots need to be considered with equal gravity as is the case with location patterns. Further studies, including knowledge of victims, offenders, crime locations, better policing practices, as well as implementation of policies can be advanced to ensure that crime mapping and hotspot policing are very useful policing tools for the future. The focus of this research is on the significance of crime mapping and policing of crime hotspots and at the same time trying to better define the conditions in which a society is plagued by crime. This study also focuses deeply on defining policing of crime hotspots and general crime mapping. The aim is to create a connection between the various unique elements of crime, as well as where the police and other law enforcement agencies can intervene.
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Discussion
Mapping of hotspots is a tool utilized by law enforcement agencies such as the police to not only monitor, but also predict, as well as prevent any future crimes through zoning and pinpointing areas considered as crime hotspots. There has been great variation in results with regards to the type of and area of crime, which have enabled law enforcement agencies to have a better look and understanding of important changes. In fact, Chainey, Tompson, & Uhlig, (2008 ) have argued that continued hotspot monitoring enables for improvement and advancement in data gathering, eventually offering security and safety. In another study, Kochel (2011) has argued that policing crime hotspots came into the fore during a period when crime rates were quite high and there were allegations of police misbehavior; it was a needed crime tool at the time which has since proven very effective. While this study supports hotspot policing as an effective tool, the study does not put into consideration non-crime effects. One effect of foot patrol, which is an important facet of policing crime hotspots, is the displacement of crime to some other areas, which were not initially targeted. When crime is displaced to other areas, the relations between the police and the community is often impacted. Sorg, Haberman, Ratcliffe, & Groff (2013) attempt to find out whether the communities in which crime is displaced to realizes the displaced crime particularly when it is short-term.
Often, the police map crime in a given community based on the characteristics of indigenous businesses. Studies have shown that businesses that are sexually oriented often bring crime and other deviant behavior into the community. In fact, in the areas around businesses that are sexually oriented, there is always a decrease in business traffic, as well as a reduction in the value of commercial and residential properties. It is important, as (McCord & Tewksbury (2012) assert, to investigate these negative impacts on the community in order to understand the effect on zoning as well as implementing statutory initiatives (pp.1108-1125). In areas in which new gambling businesses have been launched, studies have reported an increase in rates of crime ranging from issues such as burglary, as well as drugs and alcohol related incidences. According to Barthe & Stitt (2007) compared to other areas in the city, it is apparent that more crime incidences of this nature have taken place around areas where gambling businesses are (pp.120-125).
Law enforcement agencies must be alert and ensure that they avoid, in hotspot policing, targeting areas that the media have sensationalized as having high prevalence of crime. In a study by Wallace (2008), the author looks at the connection between the media’s crime reporting and how that reporting impacts the communities’ perception of crime and the locations in which crime take place. Through the media’s continuous invocation in crime stories, certain places such as the Bronx, Newark, and Detroit amongst many others have been marked as dangerous and unsafe places. This is how, as Wallace (2008) argues, crime media act to reinforce instead of impeding the presuppositions regarding these areas (pp.395-409). In order to ensure such shortfall are avoided, law enforcement agencies must ensure that crime maps are always guided by crime theories. A recent report on crime mapping and policing of crime hotspots emphasized the necessity of ensuring that there is consistency between theories of crime, mapping and actions taken by the police ( U.S. Department of Justice, 2005 ).
Crime hotspots are every so often found along areas where victimization risks might be quite high ( U.S. Department of Justice, 2005 ). Furthermore, these routes might be specific to the everyday routine of a given offender, including retail outlets, departmental stores, as well as gas stations. Apparently, the chance of an individual being victimized increases when they intersect the criminal in these types of areas and routine. In the mapping of crime, such areas or routes are often referred to as hot-lines since they are often laterally main thoroughfares.
As earlier noted, when an individual live near a business that is sexually oriented (SOB), his or her chances of being a victim of disorder, violent, and/or even property crime becomes much higher (McCord and Tewksbury, (2012). Furthermore, these victims end up being targets because of the potential of criminals walking by or through these area as they go to SOBs. A report by Police Executive Research Forum (2008) also noted that check-cashing stores are also another common form of business that are often along the hot line areas that are notorious for victimization. The report went to suggest further that in the U.S., for instance, offenders often tend to target aliens since most of them often carry cash around since they cannot use bank services (p.15).
In order for the police to better understand criminal offenders, they must first understand the inclinations of offenders which is often, as various studies have shown, to make the best of available chances of committing an offence. Often, crime victims are exposed as marks in the hot-line areas when they are in the criminal’s way. Through policing of crime hotspots, victimization of this nature can be circumvented by offering the offenders less opportunity or not opportunity at all to carry out the crime. Crime hotspots have criminogenic variables which have persisted for long periods of time. Apparently, as Caplan, Kennedy, & Piza (2013) argue, the foundation if often laid by past criminal incidences which enable motivated criminals to not only asses their personal risks, but also their points-of-view with regards to the features of the landscape, and as such, carrying out new crimes (pp.245-246). For example, in a study by Barthe & Stitt (2007) it was revealed that about 22% of the crime in Reno, NV, took place around casinos, with most of them being offenses such as prostitution, liquor, drug, and financial wrongdoings (p.122). The study also asserted that SOBs act at places in which offenders gather to prey on their targets; thus, SOBs attract offenders who are criminally motivated. Thus, it is logical for law enforcement agencies to be visibly present in the immediate vicinity of SOBs as a way of counteracting the negative impacts of such business ventures (McCord & Tewksbury, 2012, p.1121).
Conclusion
This study has shown that crime mapping and hotspot policing are useful and efficient tools that law enforcement agencies can rely on to combat crime. The various studies reviewed in this paper have shown that implementing these tactics help in decreasing crime and where they have been applied, positive results have been achieved, which have assisted in not only making communities safer and healthier, but also improved the relationship between law enforcement agencies such as the police and communities that they serve. There certain important steps that must be taken to effectively implement crime mapping and hotspot policing. These, as have been shown in this study, include identifying areas with high crime rates such as those around casinos and SOBs, understating the characteristics and patterns of victims, as well as the attributes and motivations of offenders. When these steps are taken, implementation of hotspot policing results in substantial reduction in rates of crime.
References
Barthe, E., & Stitt, B. G. (2007). Casinos as “hotspots” and the generation of crime. Journal of Crime and Justice , 30 (2), 115–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/0735648X.2007.9721237
Caplan, J. M., Kennedy, L. W., & Piza, E. L. (2013). Joint utility of event-dependent and environmental crime analysis techniques for violent crime forecasting. Crime & Delinquency , 59 (2), 243–270.
Chainey, S., Tompson, L., & Uhlig, S. (2008). The utility of hotspot mapping for predicting spatial patterns of crime. Security Journal , 21 , 4–28. https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.sj.8350066
Kochel, T. R. (2011). Constructing hotspots policing: Unexamined consequences for disadvantaged population and for police legitimacy. Criminal Justice Policy Review , 22 (3), 350–374.
McCord, E. S., & Tewksbury, R. (2012). Does the presences of sexually oriented businesses relate to increased levels of crime? An examination using spatial analyses. Crime & Delinquency , 59 (7), 1108–1125. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128712465933
Police Executive Research Forum. (2008). Violent crime in America: What we know about hotspots enforcement. Critical Issues in policing series. Retrieved November 27, 2018, from http://policeforum.org/library/critical-issues-in-policing-series/HotSpots_v4.pdf
Sorg, E. T., Haberman, C. P., Ratcliffe, J. H., & Groff, E. R. (2013). Foot patrol in violent crime hotspots: The longitudinal impact of deterrence and posttreament effects of displacement. Criminology , 51 (1), 65–101.
U.S. Department of Justice. (2005). Mapping crime: Understanding hotspots (NCJ209393) . National Institute of Justice . Washington, D.C. Retrieved from https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/209393.pdf
Wallace, A. (2008). Things like that don’t happen here: Crime, place and real estate in the news. Crime, Media, Culture , 4 (3), 395–409.
