“Hot Spots”

“Hot Spots” Propose a problem solving policing policy to alleviate criminal activity at “Skid Row” block in dowtown Los Angeles
Sociology
Background: Studies of policing reveal the existence of crime hot spots – areas in a police jurisdiction yielding high rates of citizen complaints, calls-for-service and even victimizations. It stands to reason, then, that for police to best utilize their limited resources, patrol strategies should target crime hot-spots. Of course, police recognize that patrolling alone cannot be the solution to any community problem. Problem-Oriented Policing (POP) incorporates other crime-reduction strategies not wholly dependent on law enforcement that help target hot-spots.

The Assignment: Identify a “hot-spot” in your neighborhood. To do this, you may need to check the “Police Blotter” section of your local newspaper, or you may need to contact your local police precinct and speak to a commanding officer. Otherwise, rely on your personal experience and intuition – but be sure to detail why you chose the location and suspect that it is a hotspot. Explain your reasoning based on what we’ve learned in class.

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Once you have identified a hot-spot, summarize your knowledge about the location. What is the nature of the problem? When do problems tend to occur in this area? How often do police respond to this area? Describe the location. Feel free to take pictures of the location (if possible.) What are its special (physical, urban, opportunity design) features that make it a hot-spot? Here, it is necessary that your paper incorporate theories, concepts and research findings discussed in class.

Next, devise a crime-reduction strategy that targets your chosen hot-spot. Since patrol will inevitably be a part of any strategy, how do you recommend police utilize their patrol resources? Be specific, since we will have covered a number of types of police patrol strategies, levels of discretion, and patrol delivery mechanisms.

What other non-patrol strategies are available to reduce crime? Again, it will be necessary to rely on course theories and concepts in order to answer this question. Be sure to study surrounding areas and address the possibility of crime displacement. How likely is it that the problems will be displaced? (Students may wish to visit the Community Oriented Policing Services website which contains free, helpful documents on Problem-Oriented Policing. www.cops.usdoj.gov.)

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All papers must be in essay form and contain a strong thesis argument. To be sure, an argument consists of a premise, reasons, evidence to be discussed, and a conclusion. Papers must also be divided into carefully organized paragraphs, with each paragraph being an argument itself. Good paragraphs contain strong topic sentences (sub-premises), and well-chosen facts and examples (evidence) that support a single premise, leading to a conclusion.

Additionally, papers must incorporate the theories, concepts and research findings discussed in class and in course readings while being unique to the chosen location. (In other words, your paper must not be about “the local liquor store” but must describe the specific store, its clientele, the geographic environment and the like. Simply put: each paper must be unique to a specific address.) Finally, papers must display a sophisticated handling of ideas and demonstrate critical thinking. To do this, papers must be free of grammatical errors. Simply put, papers that are incomprehensible due to grammatical, typographical or spelling errors are those that are below average and therefore not able to earn a passing grade.

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