Institutionalizing Place-Based Approaches: Opening a Case on a Gun Crime Hot Spot

• NCJ Number: 251994
• Journal: Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice Volume: 9 Issue: 3 Dated: September 2015 Pages: 242-254
• Author(s): Christopher S. Koper; Jeffery Egge; Cynthia Lum
• Date Published: September 2015
• Length: 13 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2011-DB-BX-K012
• Sponsoring Agency: Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
• Corporate Author: George Mason University
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Evaluation; Program/Project Description; Instructional Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In order to illustrate how a police agency might develop interventions tailored to specific places, this article describes preliminary efforts by the Minneapolis Police Department (MPD) to build investigative case files on hot spots of gun violence.

Abstract

Despite the advancement of hot spot policing in research and practice, more effort is needed to develop and institutionalize hot spot strategies and to make problem places a more central focus of daily police operations. Toward this end, this article advocates a 'case of place' strategy that broadens the focus of investigative work to include places as well as people. This approach entails systematic investigation and tracking of hot spots to develop problem-solving interventions tailored to specific places. In the current illustration of such an effort, the Minneapolis Police Department identified the city's top street segments for shootings over 25 years, and examined selected aspects of their criminal histories and features. This article discusses the implications of this work for addressing gun violence at these locations and developing investigative systems to strengthen hot spot policing. (Publisher abstract modified)