Section Five:

Crime Mapping And Policing

The District

Starring Craig T. Nelson asthe new chief of police forWashington D.C.

Bent on using crimemapping to shape up thecrime problem in “theDistrict”

What this Section Covers

1. History of Crime Mapping in Policing

2. Crime Analysis Units

3. Uses of Mapping in Policing

Patrol Officer Maps

Community and Problem Oriented Policing

Police Managers & Policymakers

Investigations

4. Issues in Crime Mapping

Departmental size and Mapping

Ethical and Legal Issues in Mapping

Barriers to Crime Mapping in Policing

Future Issues in Crime Mapping in Policing

History of Crime Mapping in Policing

What is Crime Mapping?

If you ask 100 chiefs this question you will get 100 different answers

It is all things to all people

Similar to Community Oriented Policing in two ways:

1. No good definition of what it is.

2. Everyone claims they are doing it.

DEFINITION:

The use of maps to help visualize, analyze and evaluate crimepatterns, crime problems and effective solutions to crime relatedissues.

When did police departments first startcrime mapping?

Conservatively since at least 1900. Although it was very basic.

What kind of crime mapping was conducted?

Pin-mapping

What is Pin-Mapping?

Involves placing a large map on a wall and then manually placingpins in the locations where crimes occurred.

Different colored pins were used for different crimes

Problems with Pin Mapping

1. As maps were updated prior crime patterns were lost.

- Unless photographed old patterns were lost

2. Maps could not be queried or manipulated.

- Could not show changes in amount of crime over time.

3. Difficult to read when several different crimes displayed

- Appears to be a jumbled mess of pins

4. Pin maps took up large amounts of wall space.

Example: To make a single wall map of Baltimore County 12maps had to be joined covering 70 square feet.

Computerized Pin-Mapping Begins

In the 1970’s computer pin mapping began using mainframecomputers.

Process Involved:

1. Coordinates for the boundaries of the base map were placed onpunch cards.

2. Information was then keypunched into the mainframe.

3. Process was repeated for each individual crime.

Problems with Early Mainframe Computer Pin-Mapping

1. Very Labor Intensive.

2. Very Expensive. Very few departments could afford it.

3. Limited analysis ability

Modern Computerized Crime Mapping

Computer mapping finally came into its own in the 1990’s

NationallyCurrently about 16% of over 13,500 local agencies are conductingcrime mapping.

90% of agencies serving populations over 250,000

60% of agencies serving populations between 50-250,000

Only 14% of the 13,000 agencies serving populations under 50,000

North CarolinaCurrently about 23% of agencies are conducting crimemapping.100% of agencies serving populations over 250,000

86% of agencies serving populations between 50-250,000

Only 14% of agencies serving populations under 50,000

1. GIS for personal computers.

Much cheaper and easier to use versions then those onmainframes

2. Improved personal computers.

Faster processors, larger memory and cheap prices

3. Improved Printers.

Improved color, speed and much cheaper.

What helped bring about the rise in computer mapping inthe 1990’s?

Crime Analysis Units

What is a crime analysis unit?

Units within almost all police departments that are responsiblefor collection, analysis and dissemination of informationrelating to crime and criminal activity.

Common Duties of Crime Analysis Units:

1. Gather crime data: How much crime is there.

2. Conduct data analysis: Decreases in crime over time

3. Identify Crime patterns and trends: Hot spots

4. Create crime reports: Patrol, Managers and Community

5. Develops Methods for suppression of crime:A

IACA IACA Home Page

Uses of Mapping in Policing

1. Patrol Officer maps.

2. Community and Problem Oriented Policing

3. Police Managers and Policymakers

4. Investigations

Crime Mapping for Patrol Officers

How can crime mapping help patrol officers?

Helps to provide officers with a good up to date understanding of thecrime in their patrol areas.

What Patrol Oriented Crime Maps should focus on:

1. Up to date and comprehensive data:

2. Recent area history: Emphasis should be on change in crime

What happened in the last two shifts

Are there any emerging Hot Spots

Crime Bulletin for Central District of Mesa Arizona

Officer made crime maps for Patrol

Method of providing crime maps to patrol officers inwhich the officers make the maps themselves over anintranet OR internet system.

Increasingly popular because of its high degree ofcustomization that it provides.

Problem with Internet/Intranet mapping:

Requires expensive hardware, software, training andofficers who are functionally computer literate.

Intranet System for Las Vegas

Internet Crime Mapping

Click Here Chicago Police Department

Important issues in Making Patrol Maps

1. Don’t make city-wide maps for each officer, make beat levelmaps.

2. Include landmarks, street names and locations of significantevents.

3. Don’t overload maps with too much crime information.

K.I.S.S

4. Include dates and other important information with eachcrime.

5. Make it easy to read and understand. Don’t make print toosmall or in strange fonts.

Pros and Cons in Crime Mapping forPatrol Officers

PROS

Provides up to date information on crimes for officers in avisual and easy to understand manner.

Picture is worth a 1,000 words

Facilitates problem solving by officers

CONS

Patrol officers are not always willing to try new things.

Officers may not be technologically savy enough to createmaps on an intranet or internet system

Crime Mapping for Community and ProblemOriented Policing

What are Community and Problem Oriented Policing?

They are philosophies or strategies of policing

Importantly, there are few good definitions of what these twostrategies or policing are

As stated before, if you asked 100 chiefs to define what these twophilosophies are, you would get 100 different definitions.

Almost all departments claim to be involved in either C.O.P. orP.O.P. and because of the definitional problem it is hard to denythat they are not involved in some way.

Community Oriented Policing: Policing philosophy that puts anemphasis on developing partnerships with the community toidentify and solve crime problems.

Emphasis is more on public relations than crime reduction.

How is Crime Mapping used in C.O.P?

1. Community Meetings: Developing crime maps for use in“town hall” style community meetings.

Excellent for addressing community crime issues.

2. Internet Crime Maps: Interactive crime maps.

Sacramento Sacramento Police Department

3. COP Service Allotment: Using maps to determine where tolocate C.O.P stations and other C.O.P Programs.

Crime Mapping and Community Oriented Policing

Pros and Cons of Crime Mapping in C.O.P

Pros

1. Ideal for community presentations and meetings.

2. Interactive internet maps are highly effective means of providingcrime information to community.

Cons

1. Basically a public relations ploy by police.

2. Has little impact on crime rates and crime levels.

3. Maps can be “fixed” to show whatever police want to show.

Problem Oriented Policing: Policing philosophy that places anemphasis on problem solving. Specifically, determining theroot cause of a crime and developing solutions to theseproblems.

S.A.R.A. Model

Scan: Identifying crime problems. Often involvescommunity involvement.

Analysis: Determining what the root cause of the problem is.

Response: Developing and implementing solutions.

Assessment: Determining how effective the solution is atsolving the crime problem.

Crime Mapping and Problem Oriented Policing

How Mapping is Used in P.O.P.

Scan: Crime mapping can be used to assist in the determinationof trouble spots within a community.

Example: Maps show a high concentration of drug relatedoffenses in a neighborhood.

Analysis: Mapping can be used to pinpoint problems within acrime area.

Example: Maps show that within the high drug crime area is acrack house that is the center of the drug problem.

Response: Mapping can be used to help design a strategy.

Example: Maps are used to implement strategy.

Assessment: Mapping can be used to assess effectiveness.

Example: Change maps show reduction in crime.

CMPD found a connection between drug sales and violentcrime victimizations.

HighConcentration ofViolent Crime

Analysis showed that 60% of those arrested for drugs camefrom outside the neighborhood and 50% came from over 1mile away.

CMPD responded by placing barricades at strategic places withinthe neighborhood to make drug sales more difficult to access.

Final analysis showed that violent crime declined over 60%

Pros and Cons of Crime Mapping in P.O.P

Pros

1. Excellent for identifying crime problems.

2. Excellent for assessing solutions to crime problems.

Cons

1. Potential to make incorrect assessments.

2. Over reliance on geographic analysis of crime.

Some problems are not able to be analyzed geographically.

Crime Mapping for Police Mangers andPolicymakers

Who are police managers and policymakers?

Police Managers: Law enforcement executives such asLieutenants, Captains, Assistant Chiefs and Chiefs.

Policymakers: Non-law enforcement politicians who help makelaws and crime policy, on a local, state and nationwide scale.

Each have important jobs that require lots of information in orderto make sound decisions and policy.

Crime Mapping for Police Managers

What are some of the major issues that Police managers face?

Calls for service and resource allocation

Calls for Service (CFS): Calls to the Police concerning civilianproblems.

Commonly used to determine demand for police service.

Mapping Benefits:

Points or aggregate numbers of CFS shows where greatestdemands are.

Determine where to place sub-stations, where to draw police beatsor districts, and how to handle high-call areas.

Mapping Displacement

Displacement: When criminal behavior moves from onearea to another, usually in response to law enforcement efforts.

Example: High prostitution area is identified and efforts are madeto reduce prostitution in that area, resulting in prostitution activitymoving to a different area of the city.

Mapping Benefits:

Identify when and where crime is displacing to.

Identify new types of crimes in high crime areas.

Help develop new crime prevention strategies.

Comstat

Program started in 1994 in N.Y.C. to help reduce the amount ofcrime by making precinct commanders accountable for the amountof crime in their areas.

Relies heavily on Computerized Statistics to determine problemareas.

Precinct Commanders must be prepared to discuss crime andpolicing strategies in their area.

COMSTAT Process:

Big-screen computer map shows precinct under review.

Precinct commanders develop problem solving strategies based oncrime maps.

COMSTSAT Principles

Accurate and Timely Intelligence: Information describing howand where crimes are committed as well as who criminals are.

Must be very recent data.

Effective Tactics: Tactics are designed to respond directly to factsdiscovered during intelligence gathering and must be flexible,comprehensive and adaptable to shifting crime trends.

Rapid Deployment of Personnel and Resources: Most effectiveplans require that personnel from several units and enforcementfunctions work together.

Tactics must be implemented quickly.

Relentless follow-up and assessment: Ensures that tactics areindeed working and effective.

Crime Mapping for Policymakers

Policymakers: Non-law enforcement politicians who helpmake laws and crime policy, on a local, state and nationwidescale.

Requires different maps than those used “in-house”.

Important Factors in Mapping for Policymakers:

1. Maps are for an external audience.

2. Maps must be simple in nature

No complex mapping techniques, no complex crime theory

3. Maps will be used for political reasons and “truth” will be afuzzy thing.

Pros and Cons of Mapping for PoliceManagers and Policymakers

PROS

1. Excellent method for determining crime problems.

2. Excellent tool for effective decision making.

3. Excellent tool for assessment of crime reduction programs.

CONS

1. Interpretation of maps is subject to politics.

2. Not always the best method of evaluation and assessment.

Crime Mapping for Investigations

Benefits of Mapping in Investigations:

1. Bring together diverse pieces of information in acoherent manner.

2. Provide vivid visualizations of case-related data anddescriptive patterns that may help provide answers toquestions.

3. Allow for spatial analysis when necessary.

Types of Investigative Mapping Techniques:

• Geographic Profiling: Discuss later in the semester.

• Gunshot tracker World's First Proven GunshotLocation System!

Issues in Crime Mapping

1. Departmental size and Mapping

2. Ethical and Legal Issues in Mapping

3. Barriers to Crime Mapping in Policing

4. Future Issues in Crime Mapping in Policing

Departmental Size and Crime Mapping

Two of the most important issues in the use of mapping inpolicing are department size and population density ofjurisdiction.

Everything that we have talked about in terms of crime mappingin policing has been for departments that are both large and urban.

What do small and rural departments map and what are some ofthe major issues they face?

Uses of Crime Mapping in Small and RuralDepartments

Differences between small/rural and large/urban departments:1. Total Crimes: Much less crime to map in small/rural departments.

High crime areas are far less concentrated and easier to determine.

2. Types of Crime: Much less “serious” crime in small/rural departments.

More focus on minor crimes, calls for service, and “other” uses ofmapping such as traffic accident areas.

3. Problem Solving: Much less need for problem solving activities insmall/rural areas.

Crime problems are of smaller magnitude and solutions are generallyless complex.

Overall: Mapping in small/rural departments focuses on different types ofcrime, amounts of crime and crime related issues.

DECEMBER 2000

167 TOTAL INCIDENTS

Problems in Crime Mapping in Small/RuralDepartments

1. Qualified Analysts: Getting a qualified analyst in small and ruraljurisdictions may be very difficult.

Good analysts are expensive and generally desire to work inhigher crime/larger departments.

2. Geocoding: Getting accurate addresses is much more difficult inrural areas because of several problems:

No street addresses, rural roads, “common names”, base maps

3. Need: IS crime mapping needed or useful in every jurisdiction, oris it simply a neat toy.

Decision that every department must make on their own.

Many departments that are too small will not benefit.

Ethical and Legal Issues in Crime Mapping

This is becoming an increasingly important area within CrimeMapping as its use expands.

While there are great benefits to creating crime maps there are alsomany potential problems

Citizens rights to know vs. victims rights of privacy

Maps on the Internet

Liability Issues

Sharing data with researchers

Citizens Rights vs. Victims Rights

Do citizens have a right to know about crime rates, high crime areas and otherinformation that can be detailed with crime maps?

Yes and the Freedom of Information Act gives them legal access to such crimedata.

Benefits:

Can assist in C.O.P. and P.O.P.

Increases public awareness about crime problems

Internet maps may help reduce workload of Crime Analysts

Problems:

Victims may be traumatized by maps showing exact location of incident.

Victims may fear harassment or retaliation, thereby deterring them from testifying.

Crime incident information along with location information may open uppotential misuse of information.

Companies preying on victims of certain crimes

Maps on the Internet

Excellent method for providing crime map information to the public, but…

Potential Problems:

1. Potential misinterpretation of maps and misuse by users.

Many people may have trouble interpreting maps.

2. Privacy of victims regarding their offense and its exact location.

3. Impact on property values as buyers avoid high crime areas.

Red-lining in loan applications and insurance.

4. Security of data on website

Suggestions:

1. Use disclaimers. There are some important things that you need

2. Provide simple to follow interpretation guidelines.

3. Use aggregate data.

Liability Issues in Crime Mapping

What are some of the potential legal issues that can arise from crimemapping.

1. Victim right to privacy concerning crime information.

Harassment, repeat victimization, embarrassment, etc..

2. Companies using data for commercial purposes.

Calling burglary victims about burglar alarms.

3. Not enough information provided.

Failure to warn of dangerous areas or crime series.

Sharing data with Researchers

Do researchers have a legal right to access of police data?

Yes, but the main question is what level of data must the police provide?

Aggregate data or incident level data

Traditionally, researchers have rarely gained access to incident level crime data.

Crime mapping makes it possible for researchers to gain access to individuallevel data, which may raise some of the same issues we have already discussed.

Recommendations:

Only provide data to reputable researchers. Do background checks if necessary.

Only provide data to researchers in one format, either aggregate or incident.

Require researchers to destroy raw data after research is finished.

Overall issues for departments to Address

1. Should data in maps be aggregated or point data.

2. What types of data should be mapped:

Types of crime, juvenile data, contextual data, how recent

3. How do you ensure sound map interpretation by public.

4. Lying with maps:

Symbols used: size, type, color, etc..

Scale of map: Selected areas or whole jurisdiction.

5. Information on Geocoding rates?

6. Internet or not.

7. Create general guidelines for use of data and data sharing.

Barriers to Crime Mapping

While growing in popularity and use there are still many barriers to crimemapping in policing:

1. Cost: While costs have decreased dramatically, crime mapping is still tooexpensive for many departments

Software, hardware, analyst, upgrades, service contracts, etc

2. Training: Initial and on-going training of analysts is difficult to receive.

Few Colleges, Universities, or C.C. offer classes

3. Need: Many departments are to small to truly benefit from crime mapping.

4. Technology phobes: Many officers and chiefs resist crime mapping becauseof their inability to deal with technology.

5. Bad experiences with prior technology: Some departments are afraid to buyinto crime mapping after bad experiences with other expensive technology.

6. Management Resistance: Many law enforcement managers resist crimemapping as a gimmick or a fad that will pass.

Future Issues in Crime Mapping

While crime mapping has been conducted in some form or anotherfor over 100 years, crime mapping with GIS is still in its infancy.

GIS and GPS

Forecasting crime

High Resolution GIS

Regional Mapping initiatives

ASP’s

GIS and GPS in Crime Mapping

Global Positioning System: Tracks exact position through a seriesof 24 satellites orbiting earth.

Will be placed in all police cars and integrated into computerizedreport taking.

Benefits:1. Allows for tracking of police cars.

2. Assists officers in finding calls-for service.

3. Provides more accurate location of incidents than address matching.

Excellent for rural departments and crimes that occur where there are noaddresses.

4. Possible to conduct real time crime mapping of incidents.

5. Can be integrated with hand held GIS software.

GPS

HANDHELDGIS

Dynamically linked for realtime capture of crime data

Forecasting Crime

Involves using advanced spatial statistics and spatial models topredict when and where crime will increase or decrease.

Uses prior crimes and calls for service to help determine emergingtrends or crime patterns.

Problems with Forecasting Crime:

1. Intensive computer needs.

2. Models are hardly perfect.

3 main methods have been tested with none working very well.

Current high crime areas

Moderate Crime Area

Forecasted high crime areas

Forecasted moderated crime areas

High Resolution GIS

GIS analysis applied to small areas.

Mostly used in the analysis of crime within buildings.

Benefits:

1. Applies GIS and spatial analysis to inside crime areas.

2. Allows the determination of hot spots within buildings.

Example of High Resolution GIS

Regional Mapping Initiatives

Focuses on the analysis of crime cross-jurisdictionally.

New software and government funded agencies to assist inmapping crime on a larger scale.

RCAGIS is main software product.

Benefits:

1. Tracks crime patterns across artificially created jurisdictions.

Crime does not end at a jurisdictional border.

2. Helps smaller departments by bringing them together in amapping coalition.

3. Assist in tracking serial offenders.

ASP and Crime Mapping

Application Service Provider

Essentially consultants that provide crime mapping, crime analysisand internet crime maps to departments for a fee.

Very new idea. Only one is even in development

Benefits:

1. No expensive software or hardware.

No upgrades for software or hardware.

2. No expensive and difficult to receive crime mapping trainingnecessary.

Not necessary to hire a full or part-time analyst.

3. Excellent for small and rural departments unsure or unable toheavily invest in crime mapping.

End ofClass