LEA 4 Law Enforcement Operations and Planning With Crime Mapping

Crime Mapping
 Crime mapping is the process through which crime analysts and researchers use location information about crime events to
detect spatial patterns in criminal activity
 Crime mapping identifies not only where the actual crime took place, but also looks at where the perpetrator “lives, works,
and plays” as well as where the victim “lives, works, and plays
 Crime mapping is a term used in policing to refer to the process of conducting spatial analysis within crime analysis.
 Crime mapping is the process of using a geographic information system
 to conduct spatial analysis of crime problems and other police- related issues.

What is the purpose of crime mapping?

▶ Crime mapping is a very important tool in managing and controlling crime in an area.

▶ By analyzing the spatial and temporal data provided by maps investigators are able to understand the crime patterns and trend,
it also helps in resource allocation and in geographic profiling of criminals and suspicious locations.
What is the importance of crime mapping in the PNP?

▶ Crime Mapping is very important in police planning as regards to crime suppression or prevention.

▶ Crime mapping is used by analysts in law enforcement agencies to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns.

▶ Crime Mapping, using a map, either conventional or by the use of technology is very important for the law enforcers to have a
picture of crime history and rates in a certain area or place and this will be their basis in making strategic plans for their operations.

The “Police Regional Office Cordillera Web-based Crime Mapping”

▶ Allows the general public and the community to view up to

Date crime incidents within the region.

▶ They believe that providing this information to public will help in reducing the crimes in the region

▶ Knowing where and when crimes happen allows the public to avoid being a victim by taking precautions when passing through
those locations or taking alternative routes.

A Geographic Information System (GIS)

 A GIS is a set of computer-based tools that allows the user to modify, visualize, query, and analyze geographic and tabular
data.

 A GIS is similar to a spreadsheet or word processing program in that the software provides a framework and templates for
data collection, collation, and analysis, and it is up to the user to decide what parts of the system to use and how to use
them.

 A GIS does more than enable the user to produce paper maps; it also allows him or her to view the data behind geographic
features, combine various features, manipulate the data and maps, and perform statistical functions.

Crime Mapping and Crime Analysis

 Crime analysis is a law enforcement function that involves systematic analysis for identifying and analyzing patterns and
trends in crime and disorder.

 Clarifying where different types of crime and other incidents occur is one of the many important functions of crime analysis.

 Because of the unique nature of the software used and the prominence of geographic data in crime mapping, this type of
analysis is often discussed as though it is distinct from crime analysis; in reality, however, crime mapping is a sub discipline
of crime analysis.
  Crime mapping is a very important tool in managing and controlling crime in an area.

Crime mapping serves three main functions within crime analysis:

1. It facilitates visual and statistical analyses of the spatial

Nature of crime and other types of events.

2. It allows analysts to link like data sources together based on common geographic variables (e.g., linking census
information, school information, and crime data for a common area).

3. It provides maps that help to communicate analysis results.

Crime mapping is complementary to all forms of crime analysis in that it plays an important part in almost every analysis.

The following are some examples of how crime mapping is used within the three types of crime analysis that are the
focus of this subject:

In tactical crime analysis:

▶ Crime mapping is used to identify immediate patterns for crimes such as residential and commercial burglary, auto theft, and
theft from vehicles. For example, spatial analysis of auto theft incidents may reveal clusters of activity at specific locations that
might indicate a crime pattern.

In strategic crime analysis:

▶ Crime mapping is utilized in long-term applications to analyze the relationship between criminal activity and indicators of
disorder, such as a high volume of vacant property or disorder calls for service; to assist in geographic and temporal allocation of
resources, such as patrol officer scheduling and determination of patrol areas;

In administrative crime analysis

▶ Crime mapping is a valuable tool used by police, researchers, and media organizations to convey criminal activity information
to the public. Web sites operated by police departments and news organization routinely post maps that depict areas of crime,
along with corresponding tables and definitions. For example, a police agency can reduce citizen requests for neighborhood
crime information by placing monthly or weekly crime maps on a Web site that members of the public can access using computers
in their homes or at the local library.

Types of Crime Mapping

 In single-symbol maps, individual, uniform Symbols represent features such as the locations of stores,
roads, or states.
 Display all features with the same symbol.

Graduated Mapping

Crime analysts often use graduated maps—hat is, maps in which different sizes or colors of features represent
particular values of variables.

Chart Mapping

▶ Chart mapping allows the crime analyst to display several values within a particular variable at the same time.

Density Mapping

▶ Help you identify locations with greater or fewer numbers of data points. They are most effective when working with a data set
containing many data points where there’s substantial overlap between the marks on the map.

▶ In density mapping, analysts use point data to shade surfaces that are not limited to area boundaries.

Interactive Crime Mapping