Crime does not occur randomly or uniformly in time or space, or society. Crimes do not happen randomly or uniformly across all hotels the same way. Arguing for uniformity was once popular, but now seems indefensible. However, we do know about hotspots and coldspots; there are high repeat offenders and high repeat victims. In fact, the two groups are frequently linked. While the numbers will continue to be debated depending on the definition and the population being tested, David Farrington once said, "a very small proportion of people actually commit most of the known crimes."
The argument for the complete randomness of targets and victims is no longer plausible. For example, bar fights occur with
greater frequency on weekend nights rather than on weekday afternoons, shoplifting occurs during a restricted set of hours in the day and more in some stores than others, theft in occupied hotel rooms generally happens during the daytime, and break-ins into vehicles in the garage can happen almost around the clock.
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