Police crime prevention in hot spots

This report looks at two projects carried out by the police in Stockholm and Södermanland in collaboration with the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (Brå). The project primarily concerns crime prevention initiatives targeting muggings in Stockholm and open-air assault in Eskilstuna. The point of departure was the potential in both cities to concentrate crime prevention initiatives to specific locations, known as hot spots, for the offence in question. Brå's role in this context was to provide methodological support – in the sense of assisting the various police authorities in the choice of initiatives and working methods based on available research – and to evaluate the outcomes of the projects. The police was responsible for designing the project's organisational framework, developing initiatives and implementing these. In both cases the project duration was one year.

   The purpose of the projects was to reduce the crime rate in the two cities. In a larger perspective, it is also Brå's hope that the report will contribute to stimulating the police to invest in crime prevention initiatives with a clearer scientific basis.