Crime Hotspot Mapping Study

Finding Hotspots: Patterns in crime.

"Community policing" is a philosophy of law enforcement that includes problem solving based on crime data analysis. This problem-solving approach is a methodical process for reducing the impact of crime and disorder in a community. In most U.S. cities, concentrations of crime occur in predictable patterns and locations, which change over time. GIS can be utilized to help provide insights into these spatial patterns. Once these patterns are defined, law enforcement officials and others in the local community can use the patterns to develop community education programs that are specifically targeted for maximum effect in the groups that could benefit most. In addition, law enforcement agencies can use the data to allocate their resources where they will be most effective.

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In this case study, the police department seeks to identify crime patterns in a specific portion of their city. The police hire you as a GIS consultant to help officers and detectives alike visualize drug-related and prostitution crime trends in a portion of their city using GIS technology. You will also link the crime patterns to the varying socioeconomic condition within the study area.

This case study requires a basic understanding of geographic information systems and ArcView 3.x.If you are unfamiliar with either of these,we recommend you read our Training Manual and complete the accompanying exercises before proceeding with this case study.

• Document (crime.PDF - 2.80 Mb) of this case study in Adobe Acrobat Reader format.

• Data used in  this case study (Crime.zip - 1.77 Mb)

Please read the Frequently Asked Questions for the Case Studies.

This case study developed by W/SA with contributions by the following;

• Dr.Yichun Xie, Director, IGRE at Eastern Michigan University.
• Beverly Hunter, Consultant to W/SA
• Zuojiang Fan,Visiting Scholar,IGRE.
• IGRE Staff.