abstract: Problem-oriented policing (POP) dynamically addresses unique community issues in a way that allows police departments to be cost-effective and efficient. POP draws upon routine activities and rational choice theories, at times incorporating elements of crime prevention through environmental design. A recent systematic review found POP to be hugely popular, but not rigorously assessed or implemented. In 2009, the Glendale, Arizona Police Department and researchers from Arizona State University received funding through the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Smart Policing Initiative (SPI) to target crime at convenience stores through a problem-oriented policing approach. The Glendale SPI team devised an approach that mirrored the ideals put forth by Goldstein (1990), and provided a thorough undertaking of the SARA model. A comprehensive response plan was developed with several proposed responses, including: intervention with Circle K leadership, suppression, and prevention at the six highest-activity stores. Despite a thorough POP implementation, the initial descriptive evaluation of the Glendale SPI reported positive effects on crime, but left questions about the intervention’s long-term impact on convenience store crime in Glendale, Arizona. The policy and theoretical influence of the initiative warrants a more rigorous evaluation. Supplanting the original assessment, a difference in difference model, negative binomial regression, and relative effect size are calculated to ascertain the SPI’s long-term effects on target and comparison stores. Phi and weighted displacement quotient are calculated to determine the existence of displacement of crime or diffusion of benefits. Overall, results indicate support for the project’s effectiveness on crime reduction. Further, none of the six intervention stores experienced crime displacement. Five of the six stores, however, experienced a diffusion of benefits in the surrounding 500-yard area; that is, a crime reduction was observed at the intervention stores and in the surrounding areas of five of these stores. Disorder and property crimes at the targeted stores were most affected by the intervention. One of the intervention stores did experience an increase in violent crime, however. Future studies should strengthen the methodological design when evaluating POP projects and seek to flesh out more precisely the crime control effects of unique problem-oriented strategies. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Criminology and Criminal Justice 2016

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Genom åren har det konstaterats att brott inte sprider sig jämnt över ett lanskap. Istället har det visat sig att vissa platser är mer brottsattraktiva än andra. Dessa platser kallas ofta för hot spots och kunskapen om dessa har bidragit till framväxten av platsbaserad och platsspecifika brottsförebyggande insatser. I samband med dessa insatser diskuteras ofta effekter såsom omfördelning och positiva spridningseffekter. Denna uppsats ämnar att undersöka omständigheterna bakom framförallt positiva spridningseffetker. Omständigheterna bakom positiva spridningseffekter har undersökts genom en systematisk översikt av studier som rapporterat om eller utvärderat en platsbaserad intervention eller experiment. Inga uppenbara gemensamma faktorer eller samband kunde urskiljas mellan de olika studierna gällande när positiva spridningeffekter sker och det kan konstateras att fenomenet är mycket komplext. Resultaten analyseras och förstås med hjälp av rutinaktivtetsteorin samt genom teorin om rationella val. Uppsatsen bygger på bevisen om att fler studier med positiva spridningseffkter i fokus bör genomföras. Genom att förstå när, var och varför spridningseffekter sker ökar också kunskapen om de preventiva insatserna och hur de kan designas för att nå bästa möjliga resultat. / Throughout the years it has been suggested that some places attract crime more than others. Those places are called hot spots of crime and the knowledge of them have contributed to the emergence of hot spot and targeted policing interventions. Hot spot policing is often discussed together with effects such as displacement of crime and diffusion of benefits. Through a systematic review of earlier studies that report or examine a hot spot policing effort or experiment this thesis aims to investigate the circumstances behind diffusion of benefits. No apparent commonalties or correlations are found between the different types of interventions regarding when diffusion of benefits occur. It can be concluded that the phenomenon is very complex. The results are analyzed and understood with the help of routine activity theory and rational choice theory. This thesis adds to the body of evidence that more studies with diffusion of benefits in focus need to be conducted. By understanding when, where and why diffusion of benefits occur the knowledge of crime prevention increases and also increases the knowledge of how to design the interventions to reach the best preventive gains.