Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- 1 Introduction: understanding police innovation
- Part I Community policing
- Part II Broken windows policing
- Part III Problem-oriented policing
- Part IV Pulling levers policing
- Part V Third-party policing
- Part VI Hot spots policing
- 12 Advocate Hot spots policing as a model for police innovation
- 13 Critic The limits of hot spots policing
- Part VII Compstat
- Part VIII Evidence-based policing
- 18 Conclusion: Police innovation and the future of policing
- Index
- References
13 - Critic The limits of hot spots policing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 22 September 2009
Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- Notes on contributors
- 1 Introduction: understanding police innovation
- Part I Community policing
- Part II Broken windows policing
- Part III Problem-oriented policing
- Part IV Pulling levers policing
- Part V Third-party policing
- Part VI Hot spots policing
- 12 Advocate Hot spots policing as a model for police innovation
- 13 Critic The limits of hot spots policing
- Part VII Compstat
- Part VIII Evidence-based policing
- 18 Conclusion: Police innovation and the future of policing
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
This author is a strong advocate of using sophisticated information technology and the latest research findings to guide decisionmaking in police organizations. Hence, this article begins with a brief acknowledgment of the potential benefits of hot spot policing in theory, followed by a serious critique. The thesis of this chapter is that, while the concept of hot spots policing is attractive, we should be disappointed in how scholars have narrowly defined it in theory and research and how police organizations have narrowly practiced it. This approach has failed to embody the fundamental principles of either problem-oriented policing or community policing, which many scholars believe represent the basic pillars of “good policing” in the twenty-first century.
Acknowledging the benefits
The concept of hot spots is indisputable as a criminological phenomenon and suggests the need for focused responses. From the very beginning of criminological inquiries in nineteenth century France, scholars noted that criminal activity is not randomly distributed, but rather varies by geographic area such as regions, states, and communities (see Eck and Weisburd 1995). More recent micro-level analyses have focused on sizable variations between and within urban neighborhoods. Hence, a sensible policy implication is to recommend the concentration of more resources in these high-crime areas, including police resources (Sherman, Gottfredson, MacKenzie et al. 1997). The most important question, however, is not whether we should assign more resources to problem areas, but rather, what resources should be deployed and how should they be deployed?
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Police InnovationContrasting Perspectives, pp. 245 - 264Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2006
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