Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
identify criminal tendencies, and the use of other psychological techniques, has also
helped solve crimes. The use of CCTV cameras to monitor areas, especially in city
centres, may not prevent crime, but certainly help in the identification and often
prosecution of those engaging in criminal activity. The use of body cameras by po-
lice may also resolve subsequent disagreements about police-suspect interactions.
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Hot Spots and Differential Policing
An important trend has been a greater recognition that crime is concentrated in
particular areas and is often predictable (Eck and Weisburd
1995
). Sherman (
1995
,
2007
) found that half the crime reported in some cities came from 3 % of the ad-
dresses. These so-called 'crime hot spots', therefore, are increasingly targeted
through a large police presence, and with the use of daily up-to-date crime statistics
to guide officer assignment. Yet the roots of the criminality and violence shown by
many in these areas lie not only in their material conditions and early upbringing,
but in their attitudes and feelings, especially of alienation and rejection, leading
Davies (
2004a
) to hypothesize that ten separate 'terrains of community character'
characterized areas of high crime rates, such as: exclusion-discrimination of the
population, despair and limited goals in its population, social inadequacy, etc. Al-
though the new policing approach has been to ensure that all infringements are dealt
with in these areas as part of a zero tolerance approach, when demonstrations by
large crowds in festive events occur, it is often useful to adopt an initial tolerance of
minor misdemeanours to avoid provoking locals and participants for minor crimes.
The use of 'stop and search' procedures in areas of high crime is often adopted to
reduce criminal activity. But there is increasing concern that it is used by some po-
lice to target particular visible ethnic groups, which can lead to alienation of these
groups. Hence it needs to be used with caution. More controversial, but increasingly
used in some high crime cities, has been the criminal targeting of known offend-
ers—especially criminal gang members—with close surveillance, an irritant that
monitors their movements and hence their opportunity for criminal activity. For
example, police in Rotterdam compiled of a 'Criminal List' of the 700 most well-
known criminals and used a special unit to intrusively monitor the location and
behaviour of these individuals, cracking down on any evidence of criminal activity
(van den Berg et al.
2006
). A rather wider approach called 'Weed and Seed' (WS)
was developed in the 1990s by the U.S. Department of Justice in the U.S.A. which
spread to over 300 high crime areas a decade after. The idea is to target high crime
areas with a multi-level strategy to reduce drug use and crime by 'weeding' out
major criminals and gangs through rapid law enforcement, then 'seeding' a neigh-
bourhood with human services to prevent and reduce crime, together with a Safe
Haven located in a school or community centre to provide anti-crime programmes.
The idea was to mobilize a neighbourhood, not only so that residents feel freer to
report crime but to provide them with a better quality of life and employment op-
tions. A crucial leadership role in these areas is played by local U.S. attorneys, but
the process involved the local residents, social organizations as well as law agencies
