NCJ Number
250863
Journal
Journal of Experimental Criminology Volume: 12 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2016 Pages: 373-402
Date Published
September 2016
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This study tested an offender-focused police intervention in residential burglary and residential theft from vehicle hot spots and its effect on crime, arrests, and offender recidivism.
Abstract
The intervention was prevention-focused, in which detectives contacted offenders and their families at their homes to discourage criminal activity. The study was a partially blocked, randomized controlled field experiment in 24 treatment and 24 control hot spots in one suburban city with average crime levels. Negative binomial and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression were used to test the effect of the presence of intervention and its dosage on crime and offender recidivism, and examination of average and standardized treatment effects were conducted. The analyses of the hot spot impact measures did not reveal significant results to indicate that the treatment had an effect on crime or arrest counts, or on repeat arrests of the targeted or non-targeted offenders living in the hot spots; however, the relationships, although not significant, were in a promising direction. The collective findings from all four impact measures suggest that the intervention may have had some influence on the targeted offenders, as well as in the treatment hot spots. Limitations include large hot spots, the low case number, low base rates, and inadequate impact measures. Suggestions are provided for police agencies and researchers for implementing preventive offender-focused strategies and conducting studies in suburban cities. (Publisher abstract modified)