depicting hot spots is connected with useful
theories, each of which suggests different
types of police action. Recognition of
these links in mapping practice will lead to
better use of crime maps.
Notes
1. Although one could have hot spots of anything that
can be geographically distributed—a hot spot of automobile
dealerships, for example—usage of this term
is restricted to crime or disorder. So unless otherwise
specified, hot spots means hot spots of crime
or disorder.
2. Level does not indicate superiority or rank in this
instance. A high-level hot spot is not better or worse
than a low-level hot spot. Rather, higher level hot spots
can be composed of groups of lower level hot spots.
In this sense, level refers to level of aggregation.
Exhibit 3. Messages in crime maps
3. Some disagreement exists over the geographic
scope of neighborhood theories of crime. Most
researchers refer to areas covering several square
blocks, although Taylor (1997, 1984) makes a strong
case for the relevant area being about the size of a
single block. Clearly, the difference between a large
place and a small neighborhood is blurry.