Experts in the area of crime displacement include Kate Bowers, Rob T. Guerette, and John E. Eck.
WDQ is one part of understanding the effects of targeted law enforcement, but the ease with which the system can be used comes from its being a simple series of statistical tests on data.
A study by Catherine Phillips for the Nottingham Trent University Division of Criminology reviewed the existing literature and performed a secondary analysis on the published results of empirical data.
Reviewing a wide variety of published empirical data, Phillips found that displacement is not inevitable, but is very common.
Using the Dutch synthetic market as a case study, Vijlbrief (2012) assessed the role of displacement in organized crime.
[2] Similarly, a more recent review of randomized controlled trials and natural experiments assessing the effects of CCTV concluded that the "evidence on the prevalence of displacement and diffusion of benefit was mixed".
According to Ratcliffe (2009), "Police departments can respond to a rise in crime with a series of high-visibility, directed, uniform patrol deployment initiatives" (p. 230).
Deploying a variety of resources, such as extra officers and heightened surveillance of community crime hotspots, can counteract criminal conduct.
rs and Johnson (2003) report that a central rationale behind displacement " ... is that it can only be attributed to crime-prevention activity if crime is reduced in the targeted area considered".
Using the WDQ can facilitate the work of researchers seeking to reduce crime in their community while minimizing the negative impact on surrounding areas.
If a community is experiencing an increase in car thefts (especially on dimly-lit streets), as a situational crime-prevention strategy the county can invest in brighter street-light bulbs.
As a follow-up measure, law-enforcement agencies can advise communities about possible sting operations in hotspot areas (making the crime riskier to commit, and dissuading potential thieves).
By measuring data with the WDQ system, law-enforcement agents can pinpoint the areas most affected and calculate the diffusion of benefits.
Sharing data with other agencies will create an information network capable of preventing crime over a broader area.