Policing Strategies in Hot Spot Regions - Literature Review Example

Hot spot policing is the ability of the security team to offer quick response to crime related sceneries in different areas. Usually, the crime rate increases in some particular areas and the number of police in the region as well increases. The proportional increase in the two activities is termed as hot spot policing. Notably, the policing began in early 1990s replacing the widely used random patrol in which the police were deployed in certain region for a particular time regardless of the crime rate recorded. Police in the urban region marked the areas of crime hot spots using their computers and assigned the cops in the specific neighborhoods. The patrols on the hot spots have benefited some of the regions which experienced high rate of crimes. Different scholars in United States outlined a number of ways in which regular and intensive police patrol in hot spot areas have result in decline of the crime rates.

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Impacts of Community in Enhancing Stability of Security

In an article, A case study of the crime decline, Clancey (2015) established the local dimension of the crime in the society. Professor Garner focused on the specific issues affecting the security of the community and their influence on individuals. In particular, the author discussed the impacts of young people in enhancing stability of the security in the region. He interviewed local practitioners to determine the real cause of rising insecurity in the neighborhoods. The author established that specific offenses in some areas have significantly reduced over the years (Clancey, 2015). The decline in the rate of the crimes in the specific region was attributed to a number of local services and programs initiated by community leadership. Consequently, the crime prevention infrastructure has greatly reduced, thus, reducing the cost of offering security. Importantly, Clancey (2015) identified police regular patrol as a program initiated by the local leadership to ensure reduction of crime. Since the case study focused on the Local Government Area as a mechanism for analysis of the crime, the statistic obtained were accurate and facilitated easy understanding of the local dynamics. According to Garner, by concentrating on a single geographical area and analyzing the crime statistics, the society is capable of devising better strategies of minimizing the crime (Clancey, 2015).

Second, in the article, Dallas disruption unit: efficacy of hot spots deployment, Jang et al. (2011) examined the impacts of rotational deployment of police in hot spot areas (Jang, Lee & Hoover, 2012). In particular, the authors focused on the effects of policing activities in the in hot spots areas and how they reduced various crimes. According to Jang et al (2010), the application of crime prevention strategy through hot spots identification enabled police officers to concentrate on the crime clustering in some geographical areas, thus, optimizing the use of limited resources. Through advanced crime analysis technique and the geographic information system, police agencies can identify various crime hot spots in the assigned areas (Jang et al 2011). Furthermore, jang et al. emphasized on the modern form of crime prevention strategies such as Compstat approaches and the intelligent led policing. From the study, the authors found that hot spot policing affects the nuisance offenses and the violent crimes. In particular, Jang et al (2011) explained the activities carried out at the Disruption units such as using of motor vehicle, making arrests, issuing citations and conducting the pedestrian stops. In other words, the author established that rotational policing activities in hot spot zones can significantly reduce the crime rate (Jang et al 2011). Furthermore, on rotation basis, the law enforcement agencies use a little amount of resources in promoting the security.

Compstat and Community Policing

Scholars such as James J Willis, the article Enhancing police legitimacy by integrating Compstat and community policing, explained ways in which police Compstat and community policing strategies enhance police organizational legitimacy. To elaborate, the approach focuses on the three distinct ways in which the department of police can improve public trust, thus, obtaining maximum support (Willis, 2010). For instance, the police can encourage regular reporting of the crimes activities in the community to the Compstat meetings, establishing an inclusive group in community problem-solving efforts, and deploying the Compstat maps in identifying unsecured places, thus, mitigating the perceptions and fairness of the community. Notably, Willis (2010) concluded that an integrated community policing and Compstat strategies can promote responsive and fair policing practices.

Notably, the Compstat is a policing strategy applied in the hot spots region to reduce the rate of crime and support stability of the security. Arguably, the strategy involves the development of strategic management system to eliminate serious crimes in the predetermined areas (Willis, 2010). Additionally, the policy promotes the decentralization of the decision making roles to the middle managers, thus, holding them accountable for the performance in the specific hot spot regions. Furthermore, the managers level of understanding on the crime situation greatly improves, thus, making the capable of identifying, understanding and monitoring response to the crime problems. Conversely, community policing is a organization strategy which is designed to reduce crime in the hot spots areas (Willis, 2010). The strategy reduces disorder in the community through problem solving, partnership and delegation critical duties to the patrol officers.

Therefore, the police organizations can promote legitimacy by ensuring successful delivery of the results and fulfilling of the public expectations. Furthermore, the author argued that the current ideas must be adequately incorporated in the system to maximize security in the hot spots (Willis, 2010). Modern ideas suggest the integration of the desirable elements from different viewpoints and state distinct ways in which the processes can improve outcome approaches to the legitimacy. The reforms in the modern system educate the police to become more responsive to the concerns and to the need of specific people in the community.

The article, Explaining and sustaining the crime drop: Clarifying the role of opportunity-related theories, narrates different mechanisms deployed in the industrialized countries which promoted drop in crime rates from early 1990s. Farell at al. argued that the forces which reduce the crime cannot be sufficiently harnessed to support policy purposes (Farrell, Tilley, Tseloni & Mailley, 2010). The authors focused specifically of the conspiracy of western criminology (Farell et al. 2010). Farell et al. (2010) explained the theory of criminology which has failed to identify the root cause of violence. Furthermore, the authors outlined the zero tolerant strategies which specifically targeted the crime hot spots. Additionally, the authors emphasized on the information and analysis-driven policies which involves highly motivating management styles. The policing strategies are widely used mechanisms in different areas which ensure complete reduction in the crime rate (Farell et al. 2010). Second Farell et al. (2010) discussed increasing police number as a method of reducing the crime in the hot spot regions. Increasing the number of the police officers has led to decline in crimes in US. According to Farell et al. (2010), some partially tested hypothesis such as changing the drug markets, increasing abortion, lead exposures effects and stronger economies (Farell et al. 2010).

Third Party Policing

Lorraine Mazerolle as well noted the significant of policing in the society, and in particular, among the young people living in crime hot spots areas. In his book, The power of policing partnerships: sustaining the gains, he explained the important of Third Party Partnership (TPP) with the police to control the crime problems (Lorraine, 2014). Lorrain (2014) explored the deployment of the TPP as a mechanism for controlling the crime. In particular, the author focused on how the third party-police partnership approach can facilitate crime control gain in a long period of time. Although the Larraine presented the theoretical overview on how TPP promotes function in policing, he as well explained the practical aspects by outlining the data for the ability trial (Lorraine, 2014). In his views, the success implementation of the third party policing partnership depends on the cooperation of the police in building lasting relationship. Notably, the police departments must identify individuals who have great interest in crime problems (Lorraine, 2014). For instance the partners must be capable of offering long term, posses the responsive regulation legal levers, and sustain the crime control gains.

According to the author, the department of police has the responsibility to sustain the crime control benefits in the hot spot region over a long run (Lorraine, 2014). However, police is experiencing great challenge in sustaining the crime control gains in some identified regions. First, the department of the police possesses inadequate logistics and resources to ensure successful deployment of the officers in the hot spots regardless of the crime rate recorded. Notably, random deployment has led to misuse and laxity of resources, thus, achieving minimal results. However, third party policing, a strategy in which police forms partnership with other entities to tackle a range of security problems, has enhanced collaborative forms of combating the crimes (Lorraine, 2014). For instance, the police can easily identify the hot spot region and conduct regular operations with the help of neighbors.

Lastly, Braga et al. (2010) argued that spots policing focuses on the localized problems in the neighborhoods and communities (Braga & Weisburd, 2010). The high activity crime places are assessed through regular reviews and analysis. The hot spots areas can include train stations, apartment buildings, street corners and homes. The successful interventions are exercised in relation to the number of calls made by the public in the hotlines (Braga & Weisburd, 2010). In their analyses, the authors found that hot spot policing do not inclusively solve the crime problems in the society. However, it can perform best in reducing violent crime and disorder, and drug offenses but less effective in controlling the property crimes (Braga & Weisburd, 2010).

According to the statistics from the Police Foundation Research Advisory Committee, hot spot policing is a highly effective strategy which is widely adopted in a number of police departments in the United States (Braga, 2001). Furthermore, the author combined the analysis of the hot spots situation with the Koper Curve to achieve the problem oriented strategies to regulate the deployment of the patrol officers, thus, promoting the policing effectiveness. The strategy reduces the crime rate in the entire jurisdictions of the officers and not only the hot spots areas. Through community policing units and regular police patrol, the officers can eliminate the conditions which facilitate crimes such as poor lighting, nuisance, vacant properties, and police order offenses (Braga, 2001).

Discussion and Recommendations

From the analysis of the literatures and other secondary resources, it is clear that hot spot policing can significantly reduce the rate of crime in the identified areas. Furthermore, the resources state that police must deploy the required strategies in the identification of the hot spots regions and solving the problems associated high crime rate. Notably, t...