Does Crime Just Move Around the Corner? A Controlled Study of Spatial Displacement and Diffusion of Crime Control Benefits*

Abstract

Recent studies point to the potential theoretical and practical benefits of focusing police resources on crime hot spots. However, many scholars have noted that such approaches risk displacing crime or disorder to other places where programs are not in place. Although much attention has been paid to the idea of displacement, methodological problems associated with measuring it have often been overlooked. We try to fill these gaps in measurement and understanding of displacement and the related phenomenon of diffusion of crime control benefits. Our main focus is on immediate spatial displacement or diffusion of crime to areas near the targeted sites of an intervention. Do focused crime prevention efforts at places simply result in a movement of offenders to areas nearby targeted sites—“do they simply move crime around the corner”? Or, conversely, will a crime prevention effort focusing on specific places lead to improvement in areas nearby—what has come to be termed a diffusion of crime control benefits? Our data are drawn from a controlled study of displacement and diffusion in Jersey City, New Jersey. Two sites with substantial street‐level crime and disorder were targeted and carefully monitored during an experimental period. Two neighboring areas were selected as “catchment areas” from which to assess immediate spatial displacement or diffusion. Intensive police interventions were applied to each target site but not to the catchment areas. More than 6,000 20‐minute social observations were conducted in the target and catchment areas. They were supplemented by interviews and ethnographic field observations. Our findings indicate that, at least for crime markets involving drugs and prostitution, crime does not simply move around the corner. Indeed, this study supports the position that the most likely outcome of such focused crime prevention efforts is a diffusion of crime control benefits to nearby areas.

“Soft” policing at hot spots—do police community support officers work? A randomized controlled trial

“…There is also evidence to suggest that successful hot spot policing of crime does not displace crimes to adjacent areas in the vicinity of the targeted hot spots (Bowers et al 2011;Weisburd et al 2006). Instead, there seems to be diffusion of benefits of these social control mechanisms to surrounding areas (Clarke and Weisburd 1994), or Bradiation^of the treatment effect (Ariel 2014), not only Baround the corner^from the targeted hot spots (Weisburd et al 2006) but also to larger geographic areas .…”

“…Repeated randomized trials show that targeted increases in police patrol deployment reduce recorded crime in the targeted areas, compared to control areas, both patrolling in marked police cars (Sherman and Weisburd 1995;Telep et al 2012) and on foot (Ratcliffe et al 2011). Systematic reviews of the evidence on hot spots policing experiments suggest that the benefits associated with it exceed the costs (Braga et al 1999(Braga et al , 2012, without much evidence of spatial displacement to adjacent areas in the vicinity of the targeted hot spots (Bowers et al 2011;Weisburd et al 2006).…”

“…Instead, there seems to be diffusion of benefits of these social control mechanisms to surrounding areas (Clarke and Weisburd 1994), or Bradiation^of the treatment effect (Ariel 2014), not only Baround the corner^from the targeted hot spots (Weisburd et al 2006) but also to larger geographic areas .…”

Should US Physicians Support the Decriminalization of Commercial Sex?

“…From this perspective, supporting some form of criminalization has the potential to reduce harm to those who are financially induced or coerced. It also appears that criminalization discourages buyers [43,44], reducing the demand for sellers, which in turn worsens commerce for traffickers and reduces trafficking [45]. However, arrest can compound adversity for sellers, particularly those from marginalized populations [46], and enforcement can be selectively used against buyers and brokers [47] in a racist way.…”

Making Space for Theory: The Challenges of Theorizing Space and Place for Spatial Analysis in Criminology

“…For instance, in the short term, one might be interested in determining how the policing of drug markets or gang areas might impact the spatial distribution of crime (e.g., Braga 2001;Tita et al 2003). In fact, using GIS and spatial analysis in the evaluation of such place-based policing strategies has resulted in the robust conclusion that crime does not ''move around the corner'' and that rather than a displacement effect, we often see a diffusion of the benefits of place-based policing to adjoining areas (Bowers and Johnson 2003;Weisburd et al 2006). One can also look over longer time periods, and at larger units of analysis, to examine the relationship between changes in the socio-economic composition of local neighborhoods and the spatial distribution of crime (Cullen and Levitt 1997; Morenoff and Sampson 1997;Hipp et al 2009).…”