Anthony A. Braga - Böcker

Both those who study crime and those who fight it agree that crime is not spread evenly across city landscapes. Rather, clusters of crime--a few "hot spots"--host a vastly disproportionate amount of criminal activity. Even within the most crime-ridden neighborhoods, crime concentrates at a few locations while other areas remain relatively crime-free. So if police focus their limited resources at these problem places-a practice known as hot spots policing-they will be better positioned to lower citywide crime rates, and do it more efficiently. In Policing Problem Places, Anthony Braga and David Weisburd demonstrate that hot spots policing is a powerful and cost-effective approach to crime prevention. While putting police officers where crime happens most is an old and well-established idea, in practice it is often avoided or not properly implemented. Braga and Weisburd draw on rigorous scientific evidence to show how police officers should use problem-oriented policing and situational crime-prevention techniques to address the place dynamics, situations, and characteristics that cause a spot to be "hot." But the benefits of hot spots policing do not end with conserving public dollars and police resources. Illustrating how policing problem places can benefit police-community relations, especially in minority neighborhoods where residents have long suffered from high crime and poor police service, Braga and Weisburd show how police can make efforts to develop positive and collaborative relationships with residents and avoid the indiscriminant enforcement tactics that undermine the legitimacy of the police. A vital resource for police departments everywhere, Policing Problem Places offers a blueprint for rethinking what police should do and how they should do it.

In many U.S. cities, gun violence is the most urgent crime problem. High rates of deadly violence make a city less livable, dragging down quality of life, economic development, and property values. The police are the primary agency tasked with controlling gun violence, yet advocates for gun violence prevention either ignore the police or only reference them as a part of the problem. But in fact, more effective policing is key to the success of any comprehensive effort to reduce community gun violence. The stakes are high--gun violence is concentrated in low-income Black communities, and consequently these communities bear the brunt of the associated economic, social, and psychological burdens. Any successful strategy must overcome the current impasse where the residents of high-violence neighborhoods do not trust the police, having experienced both abuse and neglect in their dealings with officers. How can police departments find the right balance between over- and under-policing of high-violence areas? What are the best practices for police to preempt and deter gun violence, while engendering support and cooperation from the public? Drawing on fifty years of research and practical experience, Policing Gun Violence argues that it is possible for the police to create greater public safety while respecting the rights of individuals and communities. While gun violence can be attributed to various systemic causes that should remain on the public agenda--from widespread gun availability to poverty and racism--Anthony A. Braga and Philip J. Cook make the case that violence is itself a root cause of social disparity and future violence. Effective law enforcement is a vital component of a just society. They review and synthesize the evidence in several key areas: enforcement of gun laws, policing hot spots, controlling high-risk groups through focused deterrence, enhancing investigations to increase the arrest and conviction rate, preventing officer-involved shootings, and disrupting underground gun markets. Policing Gun Violence serves as a guide to how the police can better utilize their considerable resources to make cities safer.

The shooting at Columbine High School riveted national attention on violence in the nationa (TM)s schools. This dramatic example signaled an implicit and growing fear that these events would continue to occura "and even escalate in scale and severity. How do we make sense of the tragedy of a school shooting or even draw objective conclusions from these incidents? Deadly Lessons is the outcome of the National Research Councila (TM)s unique effort to glean lessons from six case studies of lethal student violence. These are powerful stories of parents and teachers and troubled youths, presenting the tragic complexity of the young shootera (TM)s social and personal circumstances in rich detail. The cases point to possible causes of violence and suggest where interventions may be most effective. Readers will come away with a better understanding of the potential threat, how violence might be prevented, and how healing might be promoted in affected communities. For each case study, Deadly Lessons relates events leading up to the violence, provides quotes from personal interviews about the incident, and explores the impact on the community.The case studies center on: * Two separate incidents in East New York in which three students were killed and a teacher was seriously wounded. * A shooting on the south side of Chicago in which one youth was killed and two wounded. * A shooting into a prayer group at a Kentucky high school in which three students were killed. * The killing of four students and a teacher and the wounding of 10 others at an Arkansas middle school. * The shooting of a popular science teacher by a teenager in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. * A suspected copycat of Columbine in which six students were wounded in Georgia * For everyone who puzzles over these terrible incidents, Deadly Lessons offers a fresh perspective on the most fundamental of questions: Why?

Microgeographic units of analysis have moved to the center of criminological inquiry. This Element brings together leading crime-and-place scholars to identify promising areas for future study. Section 1 introduces the Element and the importance of focusing on the future of studies of crime and place. Section 2 examines the development of hot-spots policing and the importance of focusing on its impact on communities. It also looks at how 'pracademics' can advance the science and practice of place-based policing. Section 3 focuses on place managers as prevention agents and examines how city government can influence crime at place. It further contends that rural communities need to become a key focus of crime-and-place scholarship. Section 4 emphasizes the importance of the connection of health, crime, and place. It also argues for the importance of expanding the methodological tools of crime and place to include careful ethnographic and qualitative research.

Microgeographic units of analysis have moved to the center of criminological inquiry. This Element brings together leading crime-and-place scholars to identify promising areas for future study. Section 1 introduces the Element and the importance of focusing on the future of studies of crime and place. Section 2 examines the development of hot-spots policing and the importance of focusing on its impact on communities. It also looks at how 'pracademics' can advance the science and practice of place-based policing. Section 3 focuses on place managers as prevention agents and examines how city government can influence crime at place. It further contends that rural communities need to become a key focus of crime-and-place scholarship. Section 4 emphasizes the importance of the connection of health, crime, and place. It also argues for the importance of expanding the methodological tools of crime and place to include careful ethnographic and qualitative research.

Over the last two decades, there has been increased interest in the distribution of crime and other antisocial behavior at lower levels of geography. The focus on micro geography and its contribution to the understanding and prevention of crime has been called the 'criminology of place'. It pushes scholars to examine small geographic areas within cities, often as small as addresses or street segments, for their contribution to crime. Here, the authors describe what is known about crime and place, providing the most up-to-date and comprehensive review available. Place Matters shows that the study of criminology of place should be a central focus of criminology in the twenty-first century. It creates a tremendous opportunity for advancing our understanding of crime, and for addressing it. The book brings together eighteen top scholars in criminology and place to provide comprehensive research expanding across different themes.

Experimental criminology is a part of a larger and increasingly expanding scientific research and evidence-based movement in social policy. The essays in this volume report on new and innovative contributions that experimental criminology is making to basic scientific knowledge and public policy. Contributors explore cutting-edge experimental and quasi-experimental methods and their application to important and topical issues in criminology and criminal justice, including neurological predictors of violence, peer influence on delinquency, routine activities and capable guardianship, early childhood prevention programs, hot spots policing, and correctional treatment for juvenile and adult offenders. It is the first book to examine the full scope of experimental criminology, from experimental tests - in the field and in the laboratory - of criminological theories and concepts to experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations of crime prevention and criminal justice interventions.

Over the last two decades, there has been increased interest in the distribution of crime and other antisocial behavior at lower levels of geography. The focus on micro geography and its contribution to the understanding and prevention of crime has been called the 'criminology of place'. It pushes scholars to examine small geographic areas within cities, often as small as addresses or street segments, for their contribution to crime. Here, the authors describe what is known about crime and place, providing the most up-to-date and comprehensive review available. Place Matters shows that the study of criminology of place should be a central focus of criminology in the twenty-first century. It creates a tremendous opportunity for advancing our understanding of crime, and for addressing it. The book brings together eighteen top scholars in criminology and place to provide comprehensive research expanding across different themes.

Experimental criminology is a part of a larger and increasingly expanding scientific research and evidence-based movement in social policy. The essays in this volume report on new and innovative contributions that experimental criminology is making to basic scientific knowledge and public policy. Contributors explore cutting-edge experimental and quasi-experimental methods and their application to important and topical issues in criminology and criminal justice, including neurological predictors of violence, peer influence on delinquency, routine activities and capable guardianship, early childhood prevention programs, hot spots policing, and correctional treatment for juvenile and adult offenders. It is the first book to examine the full scope of experimental criminology, from experimental tests - in the field and in the laboratory - of criminological theories and concepts to experimental and quasi-experimental evaluations of crime prevention and criminal justice interventions.

Over the last forty years, policing has gone through a period of significant change and innovation. The emergence of new strategies has also raised issues about effectiveness and efficiency in policing, and many of these proactive strategies have become controversial as citizens have asked whether they are also fair and unbiased. Updated and expanded for the second edition, this volume brings together leading police scholars to examine these key innovations in policing. Including advocates and critics of each innovation, this comprehensive book assesses the impacts of police innovation on crime and public safety, the extent of implementation of these new approaches in police agencies, the dilemmas these approaches have created for police management, and their impacts on communities.

Over the last forty years, policing has gone through a period of significant change and innovation. The emergence of new strategies has also raised issues about effectiveness and efficiency in policing, and many of these proactive strategies have become controversial as citizens have asked whether they are also fair and unbiased. Updated and expanded for the second edition, this volume brings together leading police scholars to examine these key innovations in policing. Including advocates and critics of each innovation, this comprehensive book assesses the impacts of police innovation on crime and public safety, the extent of implementation of these new approaches in police agencies, the dilemmas these approaches have created for police management, and their impacts on communities.

This Element examines an increasingly important community crime prevention strategy - focused deterrence. This strategy seeks to change offender behavior by understanding underlying crime-producing dynamics and conditions that sustain recurring crime problems, and implementing a blended set of law enforcement, community mobilization, and social service actions. The approach builds on recent theorizing on optimizing deterrence, mobilizing informal social control, enhancing police legitimacy, and reducing crime opportunities through situational crime prevention. There are three main types of focused deterrence strategies: group violence intervention programs, drug market intervention programs, and individual offender programs. A growing number of rigorous program evaluations find focused deterrence to be an effective crime prevention strategy. However, a number of steps need to be taken to ensure focused deterrence strategies are implemented properly. These steps include creating a network of capacity through partnering agencies, conducting upfront and ongoing problem analysis, and developing accountability structures and sustainability plans.