Crime Hot Spots

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What are crime hot spots? How do we recognize them? A hot spot is an area where crime is prevalent and likely to occur. However, not all of the time, does crime exist in a given area that is anticipated to be a hotspot. So any definition of hot spots has to be qualified. Sherman (1995) defined hot spots "as small places in which the occurrence of crime is so frequent that it is highly predictable, at least over a 1-year period." According to Sherman, crime is approximately six times more concentrated among places than it is among individuals. A great deal of confusion surrounds the hot spot issue, including the distinction between spaces and places. Block and Block (1995) pointed out that a place could be a point (such as a building or a classroom) or an area (such as a census tract or a metropolitan region). However, the former generally are regarded as places, and the latter, with their greater area, are spaces. Downtown Charleston, South Carolina, is an area more privy than others, as well as neighborhoods in lower socioeconomic areas. It seems that the reason the Crime Opportunity theory applies to these parts Charleston, is due to many factors. This theory suggests that offenders make rational choices and thus choose targets that offer a high reward with little effort and risk. The people who hang out downtown may be intoxicated, or tourists, or those who have the type of income to shop at the more luxurious stores downtown Charleston has to offer. Therefore, these people make good choices of selection by many criminals. The occurrence of a crime depends on two things: the presence of at least one motivated offender who is ready or willing to engage in a crime, and the conditions of the environment in which that offender is situated that lend opportunities for crime. All crimes require opportunity but not every opportunity is followed by crime. Similarly, a
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