Crime Hot Spot Policing in the Queensland Police Service: A Work Based Project

Crime Hot Spot Policing in the Queensland Police Service: A Work Based Project

This research project supports the Queensland Police Service (QPS) commitment to embrace innovation and to strengthen the organisation’s capability to prevent, disrupt, respond to and investigate crime and to deliver safe and secure communities. The purpose of this research is to champion networks and partnerships across the QPS, other policing jurisdictions and academic experts in the field to create opportunities that have a higher probability of yielding a sustainable impact on preventing crime. Hot spot policing is policing focused on small and specific geographical locations where crime is concentrated. The appeal of focusing limited resources on a small number of high-activity crime areas is based on the belief that if crime can be prevented in these hot spots, then total crime rates across a city will reduce. This research is a workbased project that presents unique findings with evidence-based solutions to inform future practice in hot spot policing. The research methodology used in this study was exploratory, using a quantitative design aimed at gaining in-depth insights and understandings, combined with multiple sources of information and perspectives, to answer the research questions: ‘What is an effective framework for hot spot policing that increases QPS efficiency in reducing the incidence of crime in a policing district’ and ‘What steps are required to create capacity and strategic resourcing for effective hot spot policing in the QPS’? As part of the project, the researcher completed a literature review, presented findings from a Crime Hot Spot Experiment conducted in the researcher’s workplace, collected and analysed data from a survey and discussed learnings from policing experiences. The outcome of the research project was the creation of a fit-for-purpose, sustainable policing framework that outlines the steps required to create capacity and strategic resourcing for effective crime hot spot policing in the QPS.

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