Community Crime Prevention in High–Crime Areas: The Seattle Neighborhood Group Hot Spots Project

Abstract

Hot spots policing, in which police resources are directed toward small geographic areas with high crime levels, has been widely implemented and evaluated, but less is known about the effectiveness of nonpolice efforts to address high–crime locations. Here, we examine the effectiveness of two hot spot interventions led by a community–based nonprofit organization in Seattle, Washington. We use interrupted time series analysis to assess changes in total calls, as well as drug and disorder events at each site and in catchment areas surrounding each site. We find evidence of significant postintervention declines in calls for one treatment site and a decline in disorder in the second site. Overall, the results provide initial evidence that community–led crime prevention efforts can have a positive impact on calls in crime and disorder hot spots without significant spatial displacement of crime and disorder. Furthermore, these approaches may be an optimal response to residential hot spots in particular, given current concerns about community reactions to intensive police approaches focused primarily on enforcement.