The Importance of Place in Policing - Empirical Evidence and Policy ...

Figure 5: Kernel Density Estimations of Segments Classified as ExhibitingStable, Increasing or Decreasing Crime Trajectoriesa. Stable Trajectory b. Increasing Trajectory c. Decreasing TrajectoryGroups Groups GroupsSource: Weisburd et al. (2004).Mapping the 86 hottest street segments in their longitudinal study ofjuvenile arrest incidents, Weisburd, Morris and Groff (2009) showagain that hot spots of crime are spread throughout the city (seeFigure 6). But as in the Weisburd et al. (2004) study, there is a relativelylarge clustering of such hot spots in the central business area.Groff, Weisburd, and Morris (2009) further examined the clusteringof juvenile arrest hot spots by asking whether that clustering suggeststhat there are important area trends that are influencing juvenilecrime at place, and to what extent large area trends versustrends at the street segment level appear to be influencing crimepatterns. Examining spatial dependence of street segments, theyfound tremendous street by street variability in the trajectory patternsof street segments. They conclude that “a great deal of the‘action’ is indeed at micro places such as street blocks” (Groff et al.,2009:84) indicating that much information about crime would bemissed by focusing on larger units such as neighborhoods or censustracts.25