If hot spots are merely areas with an
above average amount of crime or disorder,
why do practitioners and researchers
use the term in such a variety of ways? In
fact, with recent developments in crime
mapping, one can find hot spots of any
size—from hot spot places to hot regions.
Although all of these perspectives on hot
spots have something in common—concentrations
of crime or disorder separated
by areas with far less crime or disorder—
they differ in the area covered by the hot
spots. More importantly, the factors that
give rise to hot spot places are different
from the factors that give rise to hot spot
streets, hot spot neighborhoods, or hot
spot cities. Further, the actions one takes
to deal with a hot spot place will be different
from the actions needed to address a
hot spot street, hot spot neighborhood, or
hot spot city.