NCJ Number
180984
Journal
Crime Mapping News Volume: 1 Issue: 4 Dated: Fall 1999 Pages: 1-8
Date Published
1999
Length
5 pages
Annotation
Crime mapping enables police agencies to identify crime-ridden areas for the purpose of allocating resources in a cost-effective manner; in addition to explaining the benefits of crime mapping, this article describes the tools for crime mapping produced by ESRI, Inc.
Abstract
There is a rapidly growing realization of the value of geographic information systems coupled with traditional crime analysis to provide crime maps as a tactical and strategic decision making tool for law enforcement practitioners worldwide. In addition, crime analysis has become a much broader issue than simple pin-mapping. Besides historical, spatial, and other more familiar forms of crime analysis, there are analysts engaged in crime forecasting, traffic analysis, community mapping, and community policing. Founded in 1969, ESRI of Redlands, Calif., is recognized as the world leader in the field of geographic information systems (GIS). Driven by the latest technologies, ESRI is committed to developing mapping software with the latest industry-standard development and data management tools. ESRI has also given priority to developing new applications for law enforcement GIS worldwide. ESRI's ArcView GIS, the world's most popular desktop mapping and geographic information system software, is a powerful tool for the management, display, query, and analysis of spatial information. This article describes the components of the ArcView GIS. Also described are ESRI's Map Objects software, a powerful collection of embeddable mapping and geographic information system components, as well as ESRI's Spatial Database Engine, a client/server software that allows the user to store, manage, and quickly retrieve spatial data from leading commercial database management systems. ArcIMS Version 3.0 is described as well; it sets the standard for fast and powerful Internet mapping and geographic information system tools.