Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-1-2018

Publication Title

Applied Spatial Analysis and Policy

Volume

12

Issue

4

First Page

941

Last Page

963

Abstract

Prostitution has been a topic of study for decades, yet many questions remain about where prostitution occurs. Difficulty in identifying prostitution activity is often attributed to the hidden and seemingly victimless nature of the crime. Despite numerous challenges associated with policing street prostitution, these encounters become more difficult to identify when they take place indoors, especially in locations away from public view, such as hotels. The purpose of this paper is to develop a strategy for identifying hotel facilities and surrounding areas that may be experiencing elevated levels of prostitution activity using high-volume, user-generated data, namely hotel reviews written by guests and posted to Travelocity.com. A unique synthesis of methods including data mining, natural language processing, machine learning, and basic spatial analysis are combined to identify facilities that may require additional law enforcement resources and/or social/health service outreach. Prostitution hotspots are identified within the city of Phoenix, Arizona and policy implications are discussed.

Comments

This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12061-018-9279-1

Publisher holds a Bespoken License

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