Classifying import and domestic hot spots of crime by offender home proximity

This article tested whether the distances from offenders' homes to their offence locations were different depending on whether a crime was committed in a hot spot or not and whether distances vary within individual types of hot spots. Hot spots of robberies, aggravated assaults, and residential burglaries were created via nearest neighbour hierarchical clustering methods. The distances that offender's travelled from home to offence were calculated in a geographic information system. Results suggest that offenders travel shorter distances to offend at robbery and aggravated assault hot spots than to commit non-hot spot crimes. Burglary offenders travelled longer distances to offend at hot spots. All three types of hot spots had variable average travel distances associated with them. Police should consider whether a hot spot has a domestic crime problem or whether a hot spot imports crime. Findings have implications for the success of problem-oriented policing tactics when employed at hot spots.