Abstract: Using spatial analysis methods, the geographic pattern of pickpocket incidents along the Chang'an Street in Beijing was examined in this study. First, the crime distribution along the street was identified. The results demonstrate that major crime clustering areas existed in the Xidan business area (A), Jianguomen area (B), and Dawanglu-Sihui Area (C). By comparing the spatial pattern of crimes with population density and point of interest (POI) density along the street, it was found that crimes tended to be clustered around locations having higher POI density. In the next step, spatiotemporal patterns of offences in the three areas were analyzed using kernel density estimation and space-time hotspot matrix. The results indicate that zone A maintained higher crime level between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. and the peak time appeared at 12 a.m., and the offences concentrated in the major shopping malls. However, in zones B and C, the higher level of crimes occurred in the hours around 6 a.m. and 6 p.m., which are the periods of peak traffic flow in the morning and evening. Lastly, some detailed crime prevention and suppression suggestions and strategies are proposed on the basis of the spatial attributes and blind areas theory.

Key words: pickpocket, crime hotspot, spatial analysis, spatiotemporal hotspot matrix, Beijing