NCJ Number
219218
Date Published
November 2001
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper presents five questions and answers forwarded to the Police Foundation’s Crime Mapping Laboratory from a variety of individuals requesting technical assistance and information about crime analysis and crime mapping.
Abstract
In 2000-2001, the Police Foundation’s Crime Mapping Laboratory recorded 270 requests for assistance in the area of crime analysis and crime mapping covering the areas of technical assistance, training, publication resources, and general requests. Over the last year, a review of the technical assistance contacts received by the Crime Mapping Laboratory revealed several common themes in the types of assistance that crime analysis and mapping professionals typically request. Based on these themes, a compilation of frequently asked questions and answers was prepared. The answers to each of the five questions include links to other crime analysis and mapping resources. The questions include: (1) in wanting to begin posting crime analysis and crime mapping on the Web, do guidelines exist as to the content and types of information that can be posted on the Internet; (2) can you suggest resources for low-cost/free local or Web-based crime mapping training opportunities; (3) in implementing a crime analysis and/or mapping function, can you recommend introductory resources and training opportunities for someone who is just starting out; (4) in creating a regional crime analysis information sharing system, can you suggest resources that will assist us in this venture; and (5) in the preparation of monthly calls for service and crime reports for my department, most of our time is spent with repetitive data-cleaning tasks, due typically to addresses, rather than data analysis (call data often include the name of the address in place of or in addition to the street address, and crime data often include incomplete or abbreviated addresses), can you provide suggestions for eliminating this monthly problem?