NCJ Number
180919
Journal
Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 26 Issue: 11 Dated: November 1999 Pages: 76-79
Date Published
November 1999
Length
4 pages
Annotation
The use of geographic information system (GIS) technology enables police to automate certain functions and analyze complex data to provide visual direction on how to address crime patterns.
Abstract
The National Institute of Justice's Crime Mapping Research Center (CMRC) web site notes that geomapping does much more than identify burglary hot spots. Current uses include comparing measures of social disorder, characteristics of the social environment, and other indicators of risk and effort; a spatial analysis of homicide hot spots; and automated reports so that police at all levels can be informed and assume responsibility for crime in a specific area. Other projects involve desktop maps displaying the latest crime patterns, data on crime incidents and arrests, and Baltimore/Washington Metropolitan Department of Justice Pilot of a regional system. The software makes it possible to ignore jurisdictional boundaries and the effects they have on preventing information from becoming available to analysts regardless of their jurisdictions. GIS should make it possible for police agencies in the future to discern patterns and trends and make the information readily available to anyone. Illustrations