NCJ Number
189402
Date Published
2001
Length
20 pages
Annotation
This literature review examines the overlap between repeat victimization and "hot spots" in relation to high-crime areas and repeat offending for different crime types.
Abstract
The first section of this paper briefly reviews the major milestones in the literature on the policing of "hot spots" and repeat victimization. The second section presents definitions of the concepts of "repeat victimization" (repeated offenses against the same target); "hot spot" (a small geographical unit in which crime is concentrated); and "high-crime area" (a geographical area, typically larger than a hot spot, in which crime is concentrated). The overlap between repeat victimization and hot spots is them examined in relation to high-crime areas and repeat offending, as well as in relation to various types of crime. In discussing the implications of the findings of the literature, this paper advises that a crime prevention strategy that targets repeat victimization within hot spots would be even more efficient than a strategy that targets repeat victimization more generally. Further, since both repeat victimization and hot spots predict where offenders will be, policing strategies to detect offenders within hot spots and at repeatedly victimized places might prove effective. It may be that offenders at hot spots are more likely to be frequent and serious offenders. If repeat victimization predicts more frequent and serious offenders on average, then a hot spot with intense repeat victimization may predict where to locate the "super predators." 3 figures and 57 references