Since researchers typically use calls to the police to study crime patterning and crime reporting may be systematic across space, the current study used spatial video and geonarrative methodology to examine the overlap between perceived crime hot spots among 35 neighborhood insiders (police officers, ex-offenders, and residents) and hot spots gleaned from call data.
Generally, perceptual hot spots diverge from call data; for example, a corner store emerges as a perceptual hot spot across all groups, but not in call data. The current study used its data to explore the microgeographic dynamics of this ‘hidden hot spot’. It found that the corner store is relatively isolated, with few occupied residences around it and participants avoiding it. In addition, the geonarratives suggest that the store lacks adequate guardianship. This study argues that mixed methodological approaches such as these are useful for understanding discrepancies between measures as well as the situational and environmental dynamics of problem places. (publisher abstract modified)
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