Does Dosage Matter? The Effects of Two Versus Four Daily Police Patrol Visits to Crime Hot Spots

• In Event: Outcomes from Portland’s Field Experiment with Directed Community Engagement Patrols

Abstract

A growing body of literature finds that crime is heavily concentrated in small geographic “hot spots” and that directing supplemental police resources to these locations reduces crime (Braga, Papachristos, & Hureau 2012). While these findings have led to the rapid adoption of “hot spot policing” around the country, many questions remain regarding the optimal approach to implementing and sustaining this strategy outside the context of a formal research study (e.g., Sherman, et.al., 2014). One of the most practical considerations is frequency: how often should the police visit these high crime areas? The current study represents the first known effort to evaluate the impact of patrol frequency using experimental methods. Sixty 500’ X 500’ crime hot spots in Portland Oregon were randomly assigned to receive either two (30) or four supplemental police patrols per day (30) over a three month period. Crime and calls for service in these locations are being compared to 30 control sites that received no supplemental patrols during the active study period. Implications of the findings for criminological theory and police administrators will be considered.

Authors

• Renee Mitchell, American Society of Evidence Based Policing

• Kris R. Henning, Portland State University

• Brian Renauer, Portland State University

• Greg Stewart, Portland Police Bureau

• Christian Peterson, Porltand Police Bureau

• Yves Labissiere, Portland State University

• Sean Sothern, Portland Police Bureau

• Kimberly Barsamian Kahn, Portland State University