Policing Crime and Disorder Hot Spots Essay (Article Review)

Introduction

For this week’s discussion board, I chose to analyze the article by Braga and Bond (2008), titled “Policing crime and disorder hot spots: A randomized controlled trial.” Though written a decade ago, the article outlines topical questions in the field that are prevalent in the discussions of governmental representatives, police officers, and lawyers. This assignment will briefly overview the paper’s theoretical framework, evaluate its methodological approach, assess the explanation of the findings, and compare it to the contemporary paradigm of academic sources.

Theoretical Framework

It is essential to note that the article’s central theoretical concept is devoted to the prevalent strategy for policing: dealing with physical and social disorder. Such an objective is justified for it aims to prevent severe misdemeanors. Braga, Welsh, & Schnell (2015) supported the article’s initial claim, arguing that opposing policing disorder is one of the best ways to minimize rates of serious crimes in high-risk neighborhoods.

The concept of policing disorder, as a problem-oriented policing framework, appeared later in a number of studies. For instance, on the one hand, Weisburd (2018) discussed the effect of hot spot allocation on problem-solving strategies through the perspective of policing responses. On the other hand, Braga (2015) revisited the implemented strategy when interpreting systematic observations of disorders at the treatment places in her systematic review. The aforementioned examples demonstrate the high significance of the central theoretical framework of the original article on the basis of empirical evidence.

Methodological Approach

In the original study, the methodological approach used involved two groups of subjects in a randomized block field experiment. Allocated with the help of random stratification, seventeen pairs of hot spots were held to a multitude of treatment conditions (Braga & Bond, 2008). Treatment conditions utilized were held close to the standards of general policing disorder strategy to avoid instances of biased, thoroughly designed problem-oriented solutions.

A similar methodological approach has been later used in the study of Ratcliffe, Groff, Sorg, and Haberman (2015), where citizens, rather than police officers were questioned about the impact of hot spots to avoid bias in the responses. Though the two studies had different core purposes, the same statistical and methodological types of research contribute to the high validity of the original article.

Assessment of the Findings

The findings of the analyzed research suggested that the evaluation of hot spots revealed critical reductions in crime and disorder call rates for service. As stated by Barak, Weinborn, and Sherman (2016) who systematically observed social and physical disorders at the treatment places, no evidence of significant crime displacement was correlated to the relative allocation of control places. Both researches by Barak et al. (2016) and Braga and Bond (2008) support the phenomenon of exhaustive causal mechanisms that comprehensively reveal the crime-prevention gains through the prism of situational prevention strategies. To minimize misdemeanor arrests and enforce social service strategies, a more in-depth mediation analysis is needed.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the article by Braga and Bond (2008) presents satisfactory empirical evidence when arguing about the issue of policing crime and disorder hot spots. The theoretical framework developed, as well as the methodological approach used, is congruent with the later studies conducted in the field. Findings generated by the authors are applicable not only to further academic research but also to the everyday work of the police officer, providing valuable insights into the effects of policing disorder. Though the research was limited to one city, its conclusions can be utilized in a wide number of settings.

References

Barak, A., Weinborn, C., & Sherman, L. W. (2016). “Soft” policing at hot spots—do police community support officers work? A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 12(3), 277-317.

Braga, A. A., & Bond, B. J. (2008). Policing crime and disorder hot spots: A randomized controlled trial. Criminology: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 46(3), 577-607. Web.

Braga, A. A. (2015). Crime and policing revisited. New Perspectives in Policing Bulletin. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, 2015. NCJ 248888

Braga, A. A., Welsh, B. C., & Schnell, C. (2015). Can policing disorder reduce crime? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 52(4), 567–588. Web.

Ratcliffe, J. H., Groff, E. R., Sorg, E. T., & Haberman, C. P. (2015). Citizens’ reactions to hot spots policing: Impacts on perceptions of crime, disorder, safety and police. Journal of Experimental Criminology, 11(3), 393-417.

Weisburd, D. (2018). Hot spots of crime and place-based prevention. Criminology & Public Policy, 17(1), 5-25. Web.