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crime mapping as a tool in crime analysis for crime management

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 KARATINA UNIVERSITY

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

B.A CRIMINOLOGY, CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND PUBLIC SAFETY

CRIME MAPPING ANALYSIS, CCP 407

FREDRICK OMBATI OGETO

E107/0586G/14

DISCUSS THE MERITS AND DEMERITS OF ADAPTATING CRIME MAPPING

AS AN ANALYTICAL TOOL IN CRIME MANAGEMENT.

PRESENTED TO ROBERT MAINA

ABBRIVIATIONS

1. CID- Directorate of criminal investigation

2. NIS- National intelligence service
3. GIS- Geographic information system
4. SARA approach- Scanning, Analysis, Response and Assessment approach
5. PDA device- Personal digital assistant device

1
 Crime mapping is a tool used to identify and highlight suspicious incidents and events
that may require further investigation. In addition crime mapping helps individuals to
understand events and dynamics in a neighbourhood including person, events and hazards.
Maps increase the knowledge of existing problems present in a territory (Patricio Tudala
2004)1. They allow the identification of hot spots and the destination of resources to areas
with more needs and not to the ones with low priority despite of resident’s pressure. Crime
mapping also helps investigators to identify suspicious offenders and suspects of crime thus
increasing investigative suspect list based even when no lead is evident.

Crime mapping help practitioners be able to reveal and identify pattern and trend
analysis across multiple jurisdictions and in addition help to uncover difference between the
rural and urban environment in term of criminality (Schultz and Tabanico)2 it is believed that
different places in the country experiences different types of crime and even patterns and
treads. Through crime mapping analysis practitioners are able to understand the local
criminal trend and the urban crime trend and can be able to link the two or even differentiate
them. Law enforcement is able to recognize and understand the type of crimes which occurs
in cities and those occurs in rural areas to. More so they are able to create a profile of
characteristic for the likely criminals in cities and those in rural areas effectively through map
analysis. They also rapidly reconfigure beats and allocate resources after analysing crime
treads over time. Law enforcement agencies are able to understand places that require high
allocation of preventive resources and places which just needs limited or few resources to
manage crime.

Crime mapping has enhanced the implementation of various policing methodology and
approaches in reducing overall criminal activities and disorders such as the SARA
approaches and use of hot spot policing approach. The approaches help the police only to
focus or target very small geographic areas and therefore develop problem – oriented policing
and the police are able to easily scan crime problem, analyse them and are able to assess the
responses. In additional crime mapping analysis enhances planning and problem solving
management and strengthens the relationship between police and community. Although the
use of crime mapping depend on factors and circumstances beyond the tools (GIS) itself,
such as the absence of indicators, monitoring and planning. More so there are obstacles in
information processing, however this does not depend only on the police but also the limited
capability of the local government.

Crime mapping helps analysts and law enforcement to Integrate traditional and non-
traditional law enforcement data to improve overall analysis. By incorporating traditional law
enforcement data with data such as demographic, infrastructure, and offender tracking you

1
See Patricio Tudela (ph. D), 2004, trends in crime mapping: the challenges and perspectives of integrating
crime mapping in local safety and government policies; Washington D.C. http://www.crime-prevention-
intl.org/io-view.php?10id=107&10page id=406.
2
See Schultz, P. W., and J.T. Tabanico (in press). Criminal beware: A social norms perspective on posting
public warning signs. Criminology.
https://www.nij.gov/topics/technology/maps/Pages/reduce-crime.aspx#noteReferrer2. Accessed on 03/12/2017
at 15:02

2
can use the GIS to transform information into actionable intelligence. Crime mapping also
with the use of GIS in police organization helps to change the paradigm of public safety
management. In other words, it is useful for community policy processes such as the quality
of response, accountability and community empowerment which constitute new demand and
challenging police organization. (Patricio Tudela 2004)1

Crime mapping analysis educates the public with visual information to clarify crime
concerns and enlist community actions. Digital maps are the quickest means of visualising
the entire crime scenario. This includes the locations of crime events and apprehension of
criminals. This information can be routinely displayed on maps. Therefore this provides an
easy method of viewing activities in an area rather than searching through a listing of events.
In additional, crime mapping can also be used to convey more than one type of crime
information at a time. In other words crime locations can be symbolised according to the day
of week, type of crime, modus operand. (Johnson 2000)3

Crime mapping analysis helps investigators and law enforcement to identify risk factors
including businesses buildings and other locations that draws crime.it helps crime officer to
determine potential sites for crime by examining complex and unrelated criteria and displays
them all in a geographic map. In addition, in prisons it helps to map inmates or convicts
population, fixture and equipment to provide inmates safety by separating same gang
members, identify high risk or potential violent inmates and finally identify hazardous
locations in prisons and other areas within the community they also reduce potential for
internal violence in prisons by providing better commands and controls. (Johnson 2000)3

Crime mapping analysis links the modus operand and suspect information to specific
crime location therefore clearing cases by linking suspects to specific crime after arrest.
Crime mapping no only identifies where actual crime took place , but also looks at where the
perpetrator lives, works and ‘plays’.as well as where the victims lives, works and ‘plays’.
Crime analysis has identified that the majority of criminals tend to committee crimes within
their comfort zones and crime mapping therefore allows people, police and investigators to
see where the comfort zone might be. Crime mapping helps these practitioners to develop
prediction policies.

Crime mapping is coming up with very significant saving through geographic profiling.
Data provided in by analysing location is helpful in determining the most probable areas of
offender’s base of activities (Rossmo 2000). More so, it is most often used in investigation of
serial crime such as murder and kidnappings. The technology also assists law enforcement to
focus limited resources, resulting in the apprehension of the offender within the shortest time
and using the fewer resources. (Velarde 2004)

Crime mapping makes the work of law enforcement easier; it is very convenient
because it supports some of their already existing roles for example, it makes it easier for

3
See C.P.J. Johnson (2000), crime mapping and analysis using GIS.
http://www.researchgate.net/publication/309125859-crime-mapping-and-analysis-using-GIS.
accessed on 29/11/2017 at 10:20 AM

3
them to respond to calls, collect data from crime scenes on time, share information with their
partners, reassure the public, analyse and generate intelligence and deploy patrol and target
responses. It therefore reduces work load by police and make them more effective and
efficient in managing and preventing crime. See footnote 4

However, since the technology of crime mapping is very expensive and that it requires
a lot of Intel, it is quite difficult to be adopted in most law enforcement departments. Here
small agencies that may not have the time or resources to train its staff on how to use crime
maps are usually excluded from the whole process of crime mapping and therefore only large
departments can take it up. See footnote4

Also crime mapping can sometimes have unreliable information (fact) in that the result
can have a bias on historical problems as opposed to emergent patterns, therefore inflicting
errors in policy deployment. The information can also be based on a very limited fact.
Information collected using maps can be incomplete and contain a restricted geographic
codification. The information provided on maps are mostly coded thus cannot be understood
easily unless on have the skill to recodify the information. more so some of the information
can be send and when reaching the destination are incomplete and this can lead to biased
judgement and decision due to missing detail or information or officer can ignore a critical
information that requires an immediate response because they do not understand it. See
footnote4

Perceptual maps do not concede necessarily with crime maps developed by the police
from the register and official statistic which are limited because of the undetermined figure of
non –reported offences. Since most cases or crimes are not reported therefore, policy makers
may make uninformed or poor decision and managing crime in those specific areas may
become quite difficult, however if the public will use the maps and whenever they come
across a crime and report, they may hold the police accountable and this eventually may lead
to policy makers making reactive intelligence or policies practices in order to manage
criminal and crime in a location

According to Chainey and Tompson (2008)5, crime mapping enhances the capability of
mobile transfer of spatial data which is used for intelligence collection. The field operators
are mandated to transfer the crime data from the PDA devices which appear on the crime
mapping system on the main operation centre. When the information is analysed at the main
centre and produces a map showing the crime activity are the practitioner can use it as an
incident response system.

Crime mapping helps investigator in geographic identification and profiling. By

analysing temporal and spatial data obtain in crime mapping analysis investigators are able to
prioritize suspect and victims based on their address information (Mackey 1999). Temporal

4
See Hubpages 2016 “benefit and disadvantages of crime mapping.”
http://www.hubpages.com/politic/benefits-and-disadvetages-of-crime-maps. Accessed on 22/11/2017 at 19:37.
5
See CRIME MAPPING, researchomatic 2012. http://www.researchomatic.com/crime-mapping133400.html.
Accessed on 26/11/2017 at 14:50.

4
and spatial data is useful in providing investigators with information on the characteristic of
individuals and location that they may likely fell comfortable to commit criminal offences
therefore investigators and analysist can identify both the awareness space and activity space
of the criminals and their probable victims or targets. It also lowers down the number of
suspects in case of serial crime cases and can allow police to manage information on the
thousand and hundreds of suspects (Rossmo 2012). Like criminal investigation, crime
mapping has the ability to help investigators to separate the numerous numbers of suspects
they have arrested in order to reach at the most perfect and likely suspect. Finally it assists in
prioritizing areas for directed police patrols or areas canvasses in case the offenders are
operating during a narrow period (Rossmo and Velarde 2008).

Investigators may use crime mapping analysis negatively in a way they may emphasize
on certain crimes while others are left or remains un-recorded or researched on. Crime
mapping also increases stigmatization and reduces investment for those living in areas with
high crime rate, and also may give criminal access to the same information from which
policing strategy are derived from. Similarly, even when this information is not made public,
crime maps develop strategies in which is discriminatory against certain locations and
communities (Ben Russellhome 2008). Therefore the application of crime mapping analysis
needs to be thoughtful as in the data collection and analysis. Crime mapping is a powerful
tool which requires careful handling.

Most of the law enforcement agencies both private and government delayed back or
dissociated from using of crime mapping due to lack of resource or satisfaction with it
application (chamard 2006). Travis and Hughes (2002) suggest that the reason for initial low
adoption of mapping technology was mainly due to its immaturity at the analytical stage. In
addition when the data collected from maps on crime is anecdotal and historical meaning that
the current dynamics do not emerge from the data, the policing agents and other efforts
focuses on the old problem rather than new ones.

Crime mapping involves use of a number of technology such as computer and the GIS
software in order to operate effectively and produce maps used in analysing crime
information, like other technologies those used in the crime mapping has experienced
increasingly technological imbalance due to financial crisis in the law enforcement agencies
and increased rate of innovation of different devices and technology day in day out (Robert
shield). The imbalances are in term of the amount of power possessed by fewer individuals
who understand technology and those who do not. The greatest numbers of individuals have
become dependent on technology but on the other side they do not fully understand the
technology they are using. Another factor that has contributed to the imbalances being
experienced by in crime mapping is the increasing complexity of the technology. When the
technology becomes harder to understand then a few individuals fully comprehend and are
able to use it.

Crime mapping also have experienced agency lack the will for sharing data and inter
institutional co- management. Different institutions, agencies and persons in the community
and society are unwilling to work together and provide necessary information or intelligence

5
on crime and disorders happening in their society. For instance individuals are reluctant to
report assaults, criminal activities and even the known criminals in their neighbourhood due
to the distrust they have in their law enforcement agencies. Lew enforcement lacks or fails to
promote confidentiality and protection of the whistle blower in case the criminals know that
they provided the information. Inter institutional co-management is the administration of a
particular place, event or operation between two entities. The law enforcement is operating
separately due to the greed among officers and the unwillingness to collaborate or cooperate
with others. For example the common police officers are fully bin control of places of high
ranked investigation such as the military and those from investigative agencies such as the
NIS and the CID operations. In such cases they are only work to secure the crime scene and
the investigation and collection of evidence is done by the CIDs only. Although these
challenges can be managed through encouraging collaboration between the law enforcement
agencies and ensuring equal skill training for all law enforcement officers and corporative
management of operation and area of interest.

In crime mapping there is a great gap between practices and theories in its studies and
approach limitations to crime prevention and management. Theories are very different from
practice but they are interrelated. Individuals have concentrated their knowledge mostly on
theories ignoring the practical part of those theories. Most universities only teaches crime
mapping theoretically since they do not have the instruments the students can use to learn
practically the recodification of information on maps and also to develop maps using the GIS
software therefore students grows theoretically and not practically. In addition there are
different approaches developed to counter criminal activities using crime mapping but are
limited in application because they require skilled individuals and tend to be very expensive
in term of cost for implementation. These challenges can be addressed through involving
individuals and students in universities into practical activities in the course of their studies,
developing more cost effective approaches and lastly encouraging cooperation between
theory work and practice.

6
 REFERENCE

Arch news spring 2012, batter policing through analysis.

http://www.esri.com/news/arcnews/spring12articles/better-policing-through-analysis.html
accessed on 22/11/2017 at 19.37

Ben Russelhome (2008): crime maps “will guard criminals”.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/crime-maps-will-guide-criminals-965449.html
accessed on 03/12/2017 at 14:39

Chainey and Tompson (2008): Crime mapping case studies: practice and research

Chamard .S.C (2006). The history of crime mapping and its use by American police
department. Alaska justice forum, 23(3), 1, 4-8.

Mackey, R.E. (1999). Geographic profiling: a tool for law enforcement. The police’s chief.
pp 51-59.

M.Gill (2014). The handbook of security: Kate bowers and Shane D. Johnson; crime mapping
as a tool for security and crime prevention.

Rossmo (2000): geographic profiling. Boca Raton, FL: CRC press.

Rossmo D.K. (2012): recent developments in geographic profiling; a journey of policy and
practices, 6, 144-150.

Rossmo and Velarda (2008): geographic profiling analysis principle, methods and
application. Ins Chainey and Tompson (Ed); Crime mapping case studies; practices and
research (pp35-43), Chichester: John Wiley and son.

Travis Lawrence and Hughes Kenneth (2002): mapping in police agencies: beyond the point:
there by monsters. Overcoming the barriers: crime mapping in the 21st century; washing ton
D.C: police foundation.

Velarda (2004): Applying geographic profiling to property crime: the geographic profiling
analyst program. Paper presented at the crime mapping research conference; Boston, MA.

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