Redrawing Hot Spots of Crime in Dallas, Texas

Abstract

In this work we evaluate the predictive capability of identifying long term, micro place hot spots in Dallas, Texas. We create hot spots using a clustering algorithm, using law enforcement cost of responding to crime estimates as weights. Relative to the much larger current hot spot areas defined by the Dallas Police Department, our identified hot spots are much smaller (under 3 square miles), and capture crime cost at a higher density. We also show that the clustering algorithm captures a wide array of hot spot types; some one or two addresses, some street segments, and others an agglomeration of larger areas. This suggests identifying hot spots based on a specific unit of aggregation (e.g. addresses, street segments), may be less efficient than using a clustering technique in practice.

Analysis of LED street light conversions on firearm crimes in Dallas, Texas

“…While examining the effect of street lighting on other crimes is at times mixed, e.g., lighting appears to increase thefts from motor-vehicles (Tompson, et al, 2022), it may be fruitful to examine the crime reduction effect for a wider variety of incidents beyond just firearm events. Although with this in mind one would still need to take into account the severity of those crimes in any subsequent cost-benefit analysis (Davies & Farrington, 2020;Wheeler & Reuter, 2021).…”

“…But, after examining the clustering conversions, I rejected this as a possibility. Figure 2 These effectively cover much of the city, including areas of high crime (Wheeler & Reuter, 2021;Wheeler & Steenbeek, 2021). With a micro level design, there would be few locations left for controls that also had appreciable counts of firearm crimes.…”

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Spatial Distribution of Shooting Violence in Buffalo, NY

“…Subsequently in terms of practical policy consideration, while Buffalo PD is more justified in a hot spots strategy now than it was prior to the shooting increases, as the hot spots contain more shootings now than before, it is unclear if the overall shooting intensity justifies a hot spot strategy at all (Wheeler & Reuter, 2021). Even the areas of most intensity in the maps show an average of fewer than 3 shootings per 120 days.…”

“…Even if the relative spatial patterns do not move, given how shootings increased overall in Buffalo (Kim & Phillips, 2021), it may be the case that the overall increase in intensity would suggest hot spot areas should be expanded to include new areas. Ultimately BPD needs to decide on whether the intensity of crime at a particular area justifies the investment of allocating additional policing resources (Wheeler & Reuter, 2021).…”

Multiplex key roles to disrupt criminal networks

“…Implementing new information technologies for police work is a great challenge to contain the growth of crime [1,2]. The tools for this must be embedded in the institutional, organizational, and practical contexts of police work, allowing for policing based on socio-technical practices to disrupt crime and reduce the practice of crimes [3].…”