Hot Spot Policing

Crime does not occur evenly across the justification of law enforcement agencies. At times, it can be difficult to address what areas have high crime rates. If high crime is not addressed by law enforcement agencies, the high crime can have negative consequences within the community. A departure from the conventional policing strategy which use resources based on call for service is Hot Spot Policing. Hot spot policing has been shown as an effective strategy when deployed at reducing crime and disorder in high crime areas. Hot spot policing includes a variety of tactics: problem oriented policing, directed patrols, zero-tolerance policing and crack downs/raids. Hot spot policing collects data to identify the types of crime and areas the crime is occurring. Once the area and crime has been identified, law enforcement agencies can inject the area with their resources to address the crime. The logic behind hot spot policing is law enforcement agencies can use their available limited resources and be effective at adequately reducing the crime in a specific area. Hot spot policing does not cause the diffusion of crime into surrounding areas. Law enforcement officers do not need to continuously stay within the hot spot area to obtain a crime control benefit. Hot spot policing can be an effective and efficient way at reducing crime in high crime areas and should be used by law enforcement.