Detecting Crime Hot Spots Using GAM and Local Moran’s I

Abstract

Scientific analysis of crime hot spots is essential in preventing and/or suppressing crime. However, results could be different depending on the analytic methods, which highlights the importance of choosing adequate tools. The purpose of this study was to introduce two advanced techniques for detecting crime hot spots, GAM and Local Moran’s I, hoping for more police agencies to adopt better techniques.GAM controls for the number of population in study regions, but local Moran’s I does not. That is, GAM detects high crime rate areas, whereas local Moran’s I identifies high crime volume areas. For GAM, physical disorder was used as a proxy measure for population at risk based on the logic of the broken windows theory. Different regions were identified as hot spots. Although GAM is generally regarded as a more advanced method in that it controls for population, it’s usage is limited to only point data. Local Moran’s I is adequate for zonal data, but suffers from the unavoidable MAUP(Modifiable Areal Unit Problem).