What is a hot spot?

A hotspot is a geographical area of higher than average crime and/ or disorder. It is an area of crime or disorder concentration relative to the distribution of crime and disorder across the whole region of interest (e.g. ward, district, or county). Hotspots are areas of clusters of crime or disorder that can exist at different scales.

Typically, a hotspot represents a localised area that has a large share of the total volume of crime or disorder incidents for the whole region. Variations of the term ‘hotspot’ are used at different scales to describe crime and disorder concentrations. Examples of this terminology include:

• Hotpoints – precise locations where there is a high concentration of incicents. An example is properties that suffer repeatedly from burglary.

• Hotplaces – these are less geographically precise than points, but refer to specific locations where there is a high concentration of incidents. Examples include a street corner where there is a high volume of crime, or a car park that suffers from a high volume of vehicle thefts.

• Hotroutes – these are typically street routes along which crime and disorder activity is concentrated. An example is alleyways or particular streets where there is a high concentration of robberies.

• Hotobjects – these are desirable goods or items around which crime and disorder is concentrated. Examples include mobile phones and car stereos.

• Hotpeople – these are certain types of people (not necessarily particular individuals) that suffer from a high concentration of crime or disorder. For example, this could include a particular portion of the local population who suffer more from burglary than any other group.

The concentration of crime and disorder events need not be geographic. Events can be towards items or certain types of people. These types of concentrations may also exist as geographic patterns, but need to be explored to develop a good understanding of the initiatives that are to be applied to help reduce these events occurring in the future.

The core of this toolkit focuses on the more classic definition of hotspots -geographic areas of high concentrations of crime or disorder. The approach for detecting other ‘hot’ places and items leads from this initial analysis of identifying crime and disorder hotspots.

The map below shows the distribution of robbery across the London Borough of Croydon. Between July 1999–May 2000 Croydon recorded 1132 allegations of robbery. In the borough’s main robbery hotspot there were 199 of these offences, representing approximately 18% of all robbery. This share of robbery was concentrated into an area representing only 0.6% of the total area of the London Borough of Croydon.

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