Much of crime mapping is devoted to detecting high-crime-density areas known as hot spots. Hot spot analysis helps police identify high-crime areas, types of crime being committed, and the best way to respond.
This report discusses hot spot analysis techniques and software and identifies when to use each one. The visual display of a crime pattern on a map should be consistent with the type of hot spot and possible police action. For example, when hot spots are at specific addresses, a dot map is more appropriate than an area map, which would be too imprecise.
In this report, chapters progress in sophistication.
Contents
Chapter 1. Crime Hot Spots: What They Are, Why We Have Them, and How to Map Them
Chapter 2. Methods and Techniques for Understanding Crime Hot Spots
Chapter 3. Spatial Analysis Tools for Identifying Hot Spots
The report can be used as a companion to another crime mapping report published by the National Institute of Justice in 1999, Crime Mapping: Principle and Practice, by Keith Harries.
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Identifying hot spots requires multiple techniques; no single method is sufficient
to analyze all types of crime.
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Current mapping technologies have significantly
improved the ability of crime analysts and researchers to understand crime patterns and victimization.
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Crime hot spot maps can most effectively
guide police action when production of the maps is guided by crime theories (place, victim, street, or neighborhood).
Mapping Crime: Understanding Hot Spots
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