ABSTRACT
Recent research leaves little doubt that crime is concentrated at micro-geographic scales. Much less is known about how spatial concentration of crime and crime pattern dynamics interact. This paper examines how the concentration of crime and the stability of crime hotspots change as a function of the spatial and temporal scale of measurement. We find that crime is more concentrated when measured at finer spatial and temporal scales, but also more dynamic. As the scale of measurement increases, crime becomes more diffuse, but the corresponding hotspots are also more stable. This fundamental tradeoff between concentration and dynamics is law-like in its behavior. The tradeoff has important implications for both theoretical understanding of crime patterns and hotspot policing.
