DOI: 10.3886/icpsr36129.v1
title: Evaluation of a Hot Spot Policing Field Experiment in St. Louis, 2012 - 2014
title: Version 1

description: These data are part of NACJDs Fast Track Release and are distributed as they were received from the data depositor. The files have been zipped by NACJD for release, but not checked or processed except for the removal of direct identifiers. Users should refer to the accompanying readme file for a brief description of the files available with this collection and consult the investigator(s) if further information is needed.
The two central objectives of this project were (1) to evaluate the effect on crime of a targeted patrol strategy mounted by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department (SLMPD) and (2) to evaluate the researcher-practitioner partnership that underlay the policing intervention.
The study addressed the following research questions:

Do intensified police patrols and enforcement in crime hot spots result in larger reductions in firearm assaults and robberies than in similar areas subject to routine police activity?; 
Do specific enforcement tactics decrease certain type of crime?; 
Which enforcement tactics are most effective?; 
Does video surveillance reduce crime?; 
How does the criminal justice system respond to firearm crime?; 
Do notification meetings reduce recidivism?; 
Does community unrest increase crime?; 
Did crime rates rise following the Ferguson Killing?; 

To answer these questions, researchers used a mixed methods data collection plan, including interviews with local law enforcement, surveillance camera footage, and conducting ride-alongs with officers.
description: The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effects of targeted patrol strategy interventions on crime and to evaluate the researcher-practitioner partnership underlying the policing intervention.
description: Two of the hot spots in each district were randomly chosen as areas for intensified police activity. Police patrols were increased over normal levels in one of these "treatment" areas. In the other treatment area, patrol strength was increased and officers were instructed to engage in heightened enforcement activity (e.g., arrests, building checks, pedestrian checks, vehicle checks, foot patrols). The remaining two hot spots in each district were designated as control areas subject to normal police activity. Surveillance cameras were also installed in high crime locations to see if the presence of a camera would reduce crime. The intervention was carried out over a nine-month period.
description: The data file (hotspots_final-2.sav, n = 64) includes 32 variables such as police district, number of street segments in a hot spot, police initiated activities (arrests, pedestrian checks, vehicle checks, building checks, and foot patrols) and types of crime (non-domestic assault, domestic assault, homicide, and robbery).
description: Presence of Common Scales: 
					none
description: Response Rates: 
					Not applicable
description: Datasets: 
					
						DS1: Dataset
description: face-to-face interview
description: mixed mode
description: Police Officers of the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department patrolling crime hot spots in St. Louis Missouri.
				   		Smallest Geographic Unit: District
description: Thirty-two hot spots (4 hot spots in each of the 8 participating police districts in St. Louis, Missouri) were identified through a geospatial analysis of citywide crime patterns during the year prior to the intervention. Cases were randomly selected throughout crime hot spots and allocated to treatment and control conditions.