Authors : Dr. John Motsamai Modise

Volume/Issue : Volume 8 - 2023, Issue 4 - April

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/4wvec3v9

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/msej7yn4

DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10060289

Abstract : This article seeks to assess the effectiveness of all hot spot policing components in lowering crime. A critical first step in enhancing public safety is the identification of criminal hotspot locations. Law enforcement agencies can gain from accurate and effective location identification by receiving information that can be used to lessen criminal activity. It would be more logical to utilize these resources in places with much higher crime rates given the limited resources at law enforcement's disposal. Police strategies that concentrate resources on smaller locations with high crime densities are referred to as "hotspot policing" and "place-based policing." Both academics and police personnel strongly endorse and approve the strategy. This adoption is primarily due to the way researchers have presented the strategy as an evidence-based method. In the current studies, the approach for determining the strategy's effectiveness is frequently constrained. According to Kochel (2011), these studies narrowly define success as a drop in crime in the targeted areas and largely concentrate on what works. The potential benefits of focusing efforts on crime hotspots have lately come to the attention of researchers and practitioners in the field of criminal justice. Numerous studies have shown that crime is disproportionately concentrated in tiny places, or "hot spots," where it makes up half of all criminal activity. Researchers contend that if police officers concentrated their efforts on these outlaw locations, many crime issues could be reduced more effectively. The appeal of concentrating scarce resources on a select group of high- crime locations is obvious. If crime can be stopped in certain high-crime areas, overall crime rates may go down. This program increased police presence in "hot spots" for crime in an effort to lower criminal activity. Hot areas that have been policed statistically significantly less frequently than control hot spots in terms of both observed disorder and citizen calls to the police. An effective rating suggests that putting the plan into practice is probably going to provide the desired result(s). The primary objective of Hot Spots policing is to prevent and lower overall crime in high-crime areas. Police Departments should employ tactics to locate "hot spots" of crime and boost police presence there in order to discourage criminal activity. In high-crime areas, the methods are meant to have a general deterrent effect. The concept behind the Hot Spots policing is that an increase in police presence can significantly lower criminal activity. This hypothesis was put into practice by concentrating law enforcement resources in "hot spots" of crime areas with high crime rates. The theory was that since the majority of crime occurred in a small number of geographical areas, boosting police presence there would result in significant decreases in crime. Instead of a reactive strategy that makes arrests after a crime has already been committed, the plan used proactive policing to stop crimes from happening. This overall policy was founded on the deterrence hypothesis, which holds that the mere presence of law enforcement will inhibit criminal activity in a certain area.