What You Find Depends on Where You Look

Abstract

Geographically targeting law enforcement at drug hot spots is a common response to drug problems, but because they are generated with police data, they only reflect what the police already know about narcotics crime. In this study, we illustrate the importance of using multiple data sets to characterize the micro-spatial distribution of illicit drug events in Seattle, Washington, by examining and comparing the Seattle Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) calls and Seattle Police Department’s crime incidents in 2004. We find that both EMS calls and police incidents indicate illicit drug use is concentrated at a small number of street segments, yet their spatial patterning is different. Together, the two data sources identify new street segments as “hot places” of drug use suggesting that law enforcement agencies should incorporate EMS data to more accurately locate drug hot spots.