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The Effects of Hot Spots Policing on Crime

An Updated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Bibliographic Data

ID19600799
AuthorsAnthony A Braga (0000-0002-5815-3734, Harvard University Press, corresponding author), A V Papachristos (0000-0003-0975-8320, Harvard University Press), David M Hureau (0000-0002-9227-2729, Harvard University Press)
Year2012
Volume31
Issue4
Pages633-663
Publication date2012-05-16
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJustice Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0741-8825 • E-ISSN: 1745-9109
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/07418825.2012.673632
OpenAlexW2103146779
LanguageEN
Citations received201
References cited53

In recent years, crime scholars and practitioners have pointed to the potential benefits of focusing police crime prevention efforts on crime places. Research suggests that there is significant clustering of crime in small places or “hot spots.” A number of researchers have argued that crime problems can be reduced more efficiently if police officers focused their attention to these deviant places. In this article, we update and improve upon a previously completed Campbell Collaboration systematic review of the effects of hot spots policing and crime. Meta-analyses were used to determine the size, direction, and statistical significance of the overall impact of hot spots policing strategies on crime. The results of our research suggests that hot spots policing generates small but noteworthy crime reductions, and these crime control benefits diffuse into areas immediately surrounding targeted crime hot spots. Our analyses find that problem-oriented policing interventions generate larger mean effect sizes when compared to interventions that simply increase levels of traditional police actions in crime hot spots. We also find that only a small number of studies examine the impacts of hot spots policing on police-community relations. The extant research on this topic, however, suggests that community members have positive reactions to these focused policing actions

Criminology · MEDLINE · Meta-analysis · Political science · Statistics · Systematic error · Systematic review · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Crime, Illicit Activities, and Governance · Law · Medicine · Policing Practices and Perceptions · Psychology

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Unique citing works201
Citations per year15,46
Citation span2013 - 2026 (14)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedYes
Citation typesNeutral: 197
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