Editing Crime mapping

{{Short description|Diagram showing crime incident patterns}}
[[Image:DChomicides.jpg|thumb|300px|right|Mapping of homicides in [[Washington D.C.]]]]
{{Criminology}}
'''Crime mapping''' is used by analysts in [[law enforcement agency|law enforcement agencies]] to map, visualize, and analyze crime incident patterns.  It is a key component of [[crime analysis]] and the [[CompStat]] policing strategy.  Mapping crime, using [[Geographic information system|Geographic Information Systems]] (GIS), allows crime analysts to identify [[Crime hotspots|crime hot spots]], along with other trends and patterns.

==Overview==
Using GIS, crime analysts can overlay other datasets such as [[census]] [[demographics]], locations of [[pawnbroker|pawn shops]], schools, etc., to better understand the underlying causes of [[crime]] and help [[police|law enforcement]] administrators to devise strategies to deal with the problem.  GIS is also useful for law enforcement operations, such as allocating police officers and dispatching to [[9-1-1|emergencies]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.esri.com/library/brochures/pdfs/crime-analysis.pdf|title=Crime Analysis: GIS Solutions for Intelligence-Led Policing|last=esri|website=esri.com}}</ref>

Underlying theories that help explain spatial behavior of criminals include [[environmental criminology]], which was devised in the 1980s by Patricia and Paul Brantingham,<ref>{{cite book|title=Environmental Criminology|year=1981|publisher=Waveland Press|isbn=978-0-88133-539-2|editor-last=Brantingham|editor-first=Paul J.|editor2-last=Brantingham|editor2-first=Patricia L.}}</ref> [[routine activity theory]], developed by Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson and originally published in 1979,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Cohen|first1=Lawrence E.|last2=Felson|first2=Marcus|title=Social change and crime rate trends: A routine activity approach|journal=American Sociological Review|year=1979|volume=44|issue=4|pages=588–607|doi=10.2307/2094589|jstor=2094589|citeseerx=10.1.1.476.3696}}</ref> and [[rational choice theory (criminology)|rational choice theory]], developed by Ronald V. Clarke and Derek Cornish, originally published in 1986.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Cornish | first1=Derek | last2=Clarke | first2=Ronald V. | title=The Reasoning Criminal | publisher=Springer-Verlag | year=1986 | isbn=978-3-540-96272-4}}</ref>  In recent years, crime mapping and analysis has incorporated spatial data analysis techniques that add [[statistics|statistical]] rigor and address inherent limitations of spatial data, including spatial [[autocorrelation]] and spatial heterogeneity.  Spatial data analysis helps one analyze crime data and better understand why and not just where crime is occurring.

Research into computer-based crime mapping started in 1986, when the [[National Institute of Justice]] (NIJ) funded a project in the [[Chicago Police Department]] to explore crime mapping as an adjunct to [[community policing]]. That project was carried out by the CPD in conjunction with the Chicago Alliance for Neighborhood Safety, the [[University of Illinois at Chicago]], and [[Northwestern University]], reported on in the book, ''Mapping Crime in Its Community Setting: Event Geography Analysis''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Maltz|first1=Michael D.|last2=Gordon|first2=Andrew C.|last3=Friedman|first3=Warren|title=Mapping Crime in Its Community Setting: Event Geography Analysis|year=2000|orig-year=1990|publisher=Springer-Verlag|location=New York|isbn=978-0-387-97381-4|url=http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/forr/pdf/crimjust/mappingcrime.pdf|edition=Internet}}</ref>  The success of this project prompted NIJ to initiate the Drug Market Analysis Program (with the appropriate acronym D-MAP) in five cities, and the techniques these efforts developed led to the spread of crime mapping throughout the US and elsewhere, including the [[New York City Police Department]]'s [[CompStat]].

==Applications==
Crime analysts use crime mapping and analysis to help law enforcement management (e.g. the police chief) to make better decisions, target resources, and formulate strategies, as well as for tactical analysis (e.g. crime forecasting, [[geographic profiling]]).  [[New York City]] does this through the [[CompStat]] approach, though that way of thinking deals more with the short term.  There are other, related approaches with terms including Information-led policing, [[Intelligence-led policing]], [[Problem-oriented policing]], and [[Community policing]].  In some law enforcement agencies, crime analysts work in civilian positions, while in other agencies, crime analysts are sworn officers.

From a research and [[public policy|policy]] perspective, crime mapping is used to understand patterns of [[prison|incarceration]] and [[recidivism]], help target resources and programs, evaluate [[Crime prevention through environmental design|crime prevention]] or crime reduction programs (e.g. Project Safe Neighborhoods, Weed & Seed and as proposed in ''[[Broken windows theory|Fixing Broken Windows]]''<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kelling|first1=George|last2=Coles|first2=Catherine|title=Fixing Broken Windows: Restoring Order and Reducing Crime in Our Communities|isbn=978-0-684-83738-3|year=1997|publisher=Simon & Schuster|place=New York|orig-year=1996|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/fixingbrokenwind0000kell}}</ref>), and further understanding of causes of crime.

==See also==
* [[Crime analysis]]
* [[Geographic profiling]]

=== Programs and projects ===
* [[CrimeView]]
* [[Criminal Reduction Utilising Statistical History]]
* [[CrimeAnalyst]]
* [[RAIDS Online]]
* [https://www.riskahead.net RiskAhead]
* [[ATACRAIDS]]

=== Individuals ===
* [[André-Michel Guerry]]
* [[Michael Maltz]]

=== Public access ===
* [[RAIDS Online]]
* [[SpotCrime.com]]
* [[Trulia]], US real estate site with crime mapping
* [http://www.yourmapper.com/browse/Crime/Location/All/map.htm YourMapper], [[open data]] crime mapping
* [http://www.city-safe.com CitySafe], crime mapping for travelers & tourists

=== General ===
* [[Public Participation GIS]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | author=Chainey, Spencer, Jerry Ratcliffe | title=GIS and Crime Mapping | url=https://archive.org/details/giscrimemappingm00chai | url-access=registration | publisher=John Wiley & Sons | year=2005 | isbn=978-0-470-86099-1}}

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[[Category:Crime mapping| ]]
[[Category:Applications of geographic information systems]]
[[Category:Criminology]]
[[Category:Human geography]]
[[Category:Law enforcement techniques]]
[[Category:Crime statistics]]
[[Category:Map types]]