Advancements in mappingtec hnology have prompted researchers to focus on the environmental characteristics related to crime. The use of any analytical procedure, however, will be most informative when guided by a legitimate theory of crime causation. Accordingly, this article draws on insights from rational choice theory to examine the effect of criminal effort—operationalized as distance traveled to a criminal opportunity—on auto theft incidents in Newark, New Jersey, duringthe year 2000. Mappingsoftware (a) allowed the measurement of distance traveled between offender residences and points of theft and (b) provided a visual display of a multilayered opportunity structure. A final map combiningthese two key characteristics provided an exploratory analysis of criminal effort and its role in the criminal decision process.
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