Page 56 - 1Proactive Policing

Pro-Active Policing

 Preserve Life

 Preserve Scenes
 Secure Evidence
 Identify Victims

 Identify Suspects.

Hot Spots Policing

Practice Goals:

Used by a majority of U.S. police departments, hot spots policing strategies focus on small

geographic areas or places, usually in urban settings, where crime is concentrated (Braga et al.
2012). Although there is not a common definition for ―hot spots,‖ they are generally thought of as
―small places in which the occurrence of crime is so frequent that it is highly predictable, at least

over a one year period.‖ (Sherman 1995, pg. 36). Through hot spots policing strategies, law
enforcement agencies can focus limited resources in areas where crime is most likely to occur.

The appeal of focusing limited resources on a small number of high-activity crime areas is based
on the belief that if crime can be prevented at these hot spots, then total crime across the city
might also be reduced.

Target Areas:

The units of analysis in hot spots policing vary in size. Hot spot areas can include very small units
of analysis such as buildings or addresses, block faces, or street segments, or bigger units such
as clusters of addresses, block faces, or street segments. There is also several crime mapping

techniques that can be used to identify and test for crime hot spots using software packages such
as ArcGIS. Hot spots can also be displayed in diverse formats, including point mapping and

spatial ellipses. There is no set standard for identifying and defining crime hot spots; rather, a
combination of technology and police officer or crime analyst experience/knowledge contribute to
the mapping and targeting process (Eck, et al. 2005).

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