NCJ Number
67257
Date Published
1977
Length
14 pages
Annotation
THE WICHITA POLICE DEPARTMENT (KANSAS) HAS EMPLOYED COMPUTER-BASED GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION FOR DEPLOYMENT OF RESPONSE UNITS SINCE 1967, ENABLING IT TO REMAIN EFFECTIVE WITH A DECREASED OFFICER-TO-POPULATION RATIO.
Abstract
THE GEOGRAPHIC BASE FILE (GBF) SYSTEM WAS IMPLEMENTED AS PART OF THE SPECIAL POLICE INFORMATION, DATA ENTRY AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM (SPIDER). AS AN AID IN SOLVING PROBLEMS, COMPUTERIZED RECORDS ARE AUTOMATICALLY GEOCODED UPON ENTRY INTO THE COMPUTER. THEY THEN BECOME PART OF THE REPORTING SYSTEMS BASED ON AN ADDRESS OR AREA-RELATED REPORT. THE SPIDER SYSTEM IS DESIGNED AROUND TWO CONTROL FILES--THE ADDRESS FILE (SPIGA) AND THE NAME FILE (SPIIN). EACH FILE IS STRUCTURED TO MAINTAIN POINTERS TO ASSOCIATE RECORDS IN OTHER SUBFILES. RETRIEVAL IS POSSIBLE BY SINGLE ADDRESS, BY A RANGE OF ADDRESSES INCLUDING THE INTERVENING INTERSECTIONS, AND BY REPORTING AREA. THE BATCH REPORTING SYSTEM PROVIDES MOSTLY REPORTING-AREA-ORIENTED REPORTS. THE DATA PROCESSING STAFF OF THE POLICE DEPARTMENT TRAINS OFFICERS AND SUPERVISORS. THREE PROGRAMMER/ANALYSTS ARE EMPLOYED BY THE POLICE DEPARTMENT FOR DESIGN, PROGRAMMING, AND MAINTENANCE. ADDRESS SYSTEM MAINTENANCE IS PERFORMED ON AN 'AS NEEDED' BASIS. UPDATE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED BY THE CITY. AS THE COMPUTER IS OWNED AND OPERATED BY THE CITY AND SHARED WITH OTHER CITY USERS, THE POLICE DEPARTMENT HOPES TO OBTAIN A MINICOMPUTER TO BE DEDICATED TO THE POLICE FUNCTION. THE POLICE DEPARTMENT ALSO PLANS TO IMPLEMENT AN EFFECTIVE TEAM POLICING SYSTEM. ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL INFORMATION RELATING TO FILE STRUCTURE AND THE EQUIPMENT USED BY THE CITY IS PROVIDED. A FLOWCHART SHOWS THE GBF SYSTEM OUTLINE, AND VARIOUS FIGURES AND TABLES AMPLIFY THE SYSTEM DESIGN. (MHP)