Crime is not spread evenly across maps.
It clumps in some areas and is absent in
others. People use this knowledge in their
daily activities. They avoid some places
and seek out others. Their choices of
neighborhoods, schools, stores, streets,
and recreation are governed partially by
the understanding that their chances of
being a victim are greater in some of
these places than in others. In some
places people lock their cars and secure
belongings. In other places they do not.
Along some streets people walk swiftly
and view approaching strangers with suspicion.
Along other streets they casually
stroll and welcome the next interesting
person they might meet, and notice others
making the same choices in the same
areas.