Interest in the spatial distribution of crime and criminal opportunities has experienced a virtual explosion over the past several years. In Space, Time, and Crime, the authors provide an overview of the various theoretical explanations, crime control policies, and practical investigative tools used to identify high crime places, spaces, and times. Throughout the text, Hart, Lersch, and Chataway provide a highly readable and informative discussion of the important issues surrounding the geography of crime, providing real world examples and illustrations from previously published research.

Space, Time, and Crime provides a basic overview of the more popular theories that have been used to explain the concentration of crime in certain places and times. Each theory is carefully and clearly developed from its historical roots to contemporary applications, with relevant scholarship cited throughout the discussions. The reader is then moved from theory into practice, where a summary and critique of various theoretically-driven practical policy applications are presented. The basic elements of crime analysis and crime mapping, both very popular crime fighting tools for police agencies and place managers, are presented. Finally, the book closes with a discussion of how technology is advancing research opportunities within the field.

Two new chapters have been added to the fifth edition — one dedicated specifically to environmental criminology and one on future directions and new technological developments in the study of space, time, and crime, with a particular focus on mobile technologies and the collection of real-time, real-place data. Research and references have been updated throughout the text.