Hot spots policing experiments and criminal justice research: Lessons from the field

In this article, more general lessons are drawn from two randomized experiments in hot spots policing that the author helped design and implement in the 1990s: the Minneapolis Hot Spots Experiment and the Jersey City Drug Market Analysis Experiment. Using a case study approach, factors that facilitate and inhibit development and implementation of randomized trials are identified with particular focus on the special problems and/or advantages of place-based experiments. While the author's main comments focus on the success of place-based randomized trials in evaluating hot spots policing approaches, he draws insight as well into the reasons why the successful example of experiments in hot spots policing has not inspired similar place-based experimentation in other areas of policing or criminal justice. Eight specific lessons regarding the implementation and development of place-based randomized trials and experimental methods more generally are identified.