Hot Spots of Predatory Crime: Routing Activities and the Criminology of Place

• NCJ Number: 115865
• Journal: Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Dated: (February 1989) Pages: 27-55
• Author(s): L W Sherman; P R Gartin; M E Buerger
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 29 pages
• Grant Number(s): 86-IJ-CX-0037
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: *This document is currently unavailable from NCJRS.

Annotation

This study challenges the theory that variation in crime by geographical place is random by assessing police call data as a measure of place crimes in Minneapolis.

Abstract

The study supports the sociological theory of crime, positing that crimes result when likely offenders, suitable targets, and an absence of competent guardians against crime converge nonrandomly in time and space. To support the premise, researchers analyzed 323,979 calls to police in the 115,000 address and intersection area of Minneapolis, Minnesota over the period of one year. The data show that a relatively few 'hot spots' produce most calls to the police (50 percent of the calls in 3 percent of the places). All calls reporting robberies identified 2.2 percent of the places; all calls reporting rapes identified 1.2 percent of the places, and all auto theft calls identified 2.7 percent of the places. The distributions of these calls deviate significantly from the simple Poisson model of chance. Policy implications of the findings include developing a criminology of place. 99 references. (Author abstract modified)