Crime Displacement and Diffusion Analysis

Displacement and diffusion analysis evaluates what happens around a crime-prevention intervention: does crime simply move to nearby areas, times, or targets (displacement), or do the benefits spill over so that crime also falls in surrounding untreated areas (diffusion of benefits)? Bowers and Johnson's weighted displacement quotient (WDQ) provides a simple, widely used metric that compares pre/post crime change in a target area, a surrounding buffer, and a control area.