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Journal Article 1: VanHorn, J. E., & Mosurinjohn, N. A. (2010). Urban 3D GIS modeling of terrorism sniper hazards. Social Science Computer Review, 28(4), 482-496.

Abstract: This study explores the prevention of terrorism using 3D analysis for the protection of populations in urban environments. Terrorism and crime prevention has become a popular exercise using the spatial tools available with geographic information systems (GIS). Thus far, most approaches have considered 2D applications focusing primarily on hot spot identification or mapping trends in a geographic region. Sniper rifle fire modeling is examined in 3D modeling within a GIS environment. The primary methodology is tested using the concept of a viewshed and line of sight. To test the model, the Gerald R. Ford Funeral in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is used to examine the protection of individuals from sniper fire. It is found that using viewsheds has good potential to aid protection agents responsible for protecting individuals and populations.

Journal Article 2: Randol, B. (2014). Modelling the influence of organisational structure on crime analysis technology innovations in municipal police departments. International Journal of Police Science & Management, 12(1), 52-64.

Citation: In the past two decades, many local police agencies in the U.S. have adopted the rhetoric of being “problem-oriented,” “evidence-based” or “intelligence-led” after investing in crime analysis technologies used for crime mapping, hot spot identification, criminal investigations and intelligence gathering. Scholars have presented general arguments concerning the environmental and organisational factors that have influenced this technological trend in policing; to date, however, no known studies have empirically tested these hypotheses at the national level. This study seeks to help fill this gap using a sample of data drawn from the Department of Justice’s 2007 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics survey, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s 2006 Uniform Crime Reports. Results reveal that several organisational factors including community policing were associated with agency adoptions of crime analysis technologies. Implications for the policing literature and avenues for future research are discussed.

Journal Article 3: Lockwood, D. (2007). Mapping crime in Savannah. Social Science Computer Review, 25(2), 194-209.

Abstract: This article is an area study on the hypothesis that violent crime is linked to a subculture of violence, social disadvantage, or land uses such as rental, retail/office/commercial, or public/institutional property. Rates and types of reported violent crimes are related to neighborhood characteristics available through U.S. Census data and the county planning commission’s geographical information office. The research design called for the geocoding of 26,467 violent reported crimes, which were aggregated by census block group. Variables in the analysis of these spatial units include frequency and characteristics of reported violent crimes, rates of violent crime, indicators of social disadvantage, housing types, housing values, and land use. Analysis employed multiple regression, with simple assault, aggravated assault, homicide, and robbery as the dependent variables. Variables helpful in the prediction of violent crime rates were also placed as map layers on data maps. Results indicate that assault in neighborhoods is associated with social disadvantage and the land uses of retail/office/commercial and public/institutional. Robbery is associated with recreational, retail/commercial/office, renter, and public/institutional land uses. Both percentage of renters and percentage of African Americans fail to predict violence when controlling for social disadvantage. Implications concern issues of theoretical criminology related to routine activities theory, the southern regional subculture of violence, and social disorganization theory. Land use planning and crime are also discussed

Journal Article 4: Braithwaite, A., & Li, Q. (2016). Transnational terrorism hot spots: Identification and impact evaluation. Conflict Management and Peace Science, 24(4), 281-296.

Abstract: To combat transnational terrorism, it is important to understand its geography. The extant literature on the geography of terrorism, however, is small and focuses on the distribution and diffusion of terrorism among aggregate regions such as Europe and the Middle East. In this analysis, we study transnational terrorism hot spots at the country level. We employ local spatial statistics to identify terrorism hot spot neighborhoods and countries that are located within. We also assess empirically the impact of these hot spots on future patterns of terrorist incidents. We find that countries with significant experiences with terrorism are often located within these hot spots, but that not all countries within the hot spots have experienced large numbers of terrorist incidents. We also find in a pooled time-series analysis of 112 countries from 1975 to 1997 that when a country is located within a hot spot neighborhood, a large increase in the number of terrorist attacks is likely to occur in the next period. This effect is robust under alternative definitions of geographic proximity and across the two most popular measures of local hot spots of data--the G*I statistic and the Local Moran’s I. These findings have important implications for the continuing fight against transnational terrorism.

Journal Article 5: Haberman, C. P., Groff, E. R., Ratcliffe, J. H., & Sorg, E. T. (2015). Satisfaction with police in violent crime hot spots. Crime & Delinquency, 62(4), 525-557.

Abstract: This article argues that citizens’ perceptions of police can aid in selecting appropriate hot spots policing tactics and models satisfaction with police as evidenced by respondents who live or work in violent crime hot spots. Survey data (N = 630) were collected by randomly sampling addresses within violent crime hot spots in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The results reveal that being younger, or more educated, or perceiving higher procedural injustice, or higher social disorder, or being more fearful of crime, all link to lower satisfaction with police in violent crime hot spots. To maintain or improve public satisfaction with police services in hot spots, police departments should adopt tactics that are not only effective in reducing crime but also procedurally just, reduce fear of crime, and address social disorder problems.