Crime Mapping

Crime mapping is used by analysts in 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 Systems (GIS), allows crime analysts to identify crime hot spots,
along with other trends and patterns.

Crime mapping is a very important tool in managing and controlling crime in an area. By analysing the
spatial and temporal data provided by maps investigator are able to understand the crime patterns and
trend it also help in resource allocation and in geographic profiling of criminals and suspicious locations.
On the other hand the paper bring out various disadvantages such as expensive technology involved and
the tendency of not reporting cases by local community to enhance effective flow of mapping the crime
location .

A geographic information system (GIS) is a powerful software tool that allows the user to create any kind
of geographic representation, from a simple point map to a three-dimensional visualization of spatial or
temporal data. For the purposes of this book, the definition of a GIS is as follows:

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 is a term used in policing to refer to the process of conducting spatial analysis within
crime analysis. For the purposes of this book, the definition of crime mapping is as follows:

Crime Analysis

Figure 4.1 Relationship of Crime Mapping to Crime Analysis

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 subdiscipline of crime analysis. 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 unlike 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. As Figure 4.1 illustrates, crime mapping does not stand alone; rather, it is a
process that occurs within the larger process of crime 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 book:

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 the geographic and temporal allocation of resources, such as patrol
officer scheduling and determination of patrol areas; to examine patterns of crime at or around specific
locations, such as schools, bars, or drug treatment centers; to calculate crime rate information, such as
numbers of residential burglaries per household; and to incorporate crime data with qualitative
geographic information, such as information on teenage hangouts, student pathways to school, or drug
and prostitution markets.

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 organizations 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.

Geographic Features

A geographic information system translates physical elements in the real world— such as roads,
buildings, lakes, and mountains—into forms that can be displayed, manipulated, and analyzed along
with police information such as crime, arrest, and traffic accident data. A GIS uses four types of features
to represent objects and locations in the real world; these are referred to as point, line, polygon, and
image features.

Point Features

A point feature is a discrete location that is usually depicted on a GIS-generated map by a symbol or
label. A point feature is analogous to a pin placed on a paper wall map. A GIS uses different symbols to
depict the locations of data relevant to the analysis, such as crimes, motor vehicle accidents, traffic
signs, buildings, police beat stations, and cell phone towers. Figure 4.2 shows circles on the map that
could represent any of these types of locations.

Line Features

A line feature is a real-world element that can be represented on a map by a line or set of lines. The lines
in Figure 4.2, for example, represent streets. Other types of line features include rivers, streams, power
lines, and bus routes.

Figure 4.2 Point and Line Feature Example

Polygon Features

A polygon feature is a geographic area represented on a map by a multisided figure with a closed set of
lines. Polygons can represent areas as large as continents or as small as buildings; in GIS-generated maps
they may be used to depict county boundaries, city boundaries, parks, school campuses, or police
districts. The five polygons in Figure 4.3 might represent police districts in a city.
Figure 4.3 Polygon Feature Example

Image Features

An image feature on a GIS-generated map is a vertical photograph taken from a satellite or an airplane
that is digitized and placed within the appropriate coordinates. Such photos, which may appear in black
and white or color, show the details of streets, buildings, parking lots, and environmental features
(landscaping). Figure 4.4 is an example of an image feature, an aerial photograph of a residential
neighborhood.

Figure 4.4 Image Feature Example

SOURCE: Photo courtesy of the Chula Vista (California) Police Department.

Types of Crime Mapping

Several types of mapping are used routinely in crime analysis. This section provides a brief introduction
to the various types of crime mapping to set the stage for the chapters that follow, which discuss the
creation of maps and their application to crime analysis in more detail.

Figure 4.5 Single-Symbol Mapping Example

In single-symbol maps, individual, uniform symbols represent features such as the locations of stores,
roads, or states. Figure 4.5 is an example of a single- symbol map showing school locations and streets.1
An important thing to keep in mind about single-symbol maps is that a GIS places all points on such a
map that share the same address directly on top of one another, making it impossible for the map to
show how many points there really are. For example, in the map shown in Figure 4.5, if a middle school
and elementary school share the same address, the GIS will have placed two gray circles in the same
spot, so there is no way someone looking at the map can see all the schools in the area. This drawback
of single-symbol mapping is particularly relevant for the mapping of crime and other police data,
because crime and other police-related incidents often occur repeatedly at particular locations. Because
of this, crime analysts use single-symbol mapping primarily to display geographic information in which
there is no overlap; they employ other types of maps to convey information about multiple incidents at
particular locations.

In addition, single-symbol maps are not useful when analysts are dealing with large amounts of data.
Imagine the map in Figure 4.5 with the locations of 100 schools marked. The points would overlap, and
the map would be difficult to read. Thus analysts use single-symbol maps primarily when they are
working with relatively small amounts of data that do not overlap. Police agencies also often use single-
symbol maps to communicate the locations of crimes within patterns to police personnel.

Figure 4.6 Buffer Map Example: One Buffer

Buffers

A buffer is a specified area around a feature on a map. Buffers can be set at small distances, such as 50
feet, or larger distances, such as 500 miles, depending on the purpose and scale of the map. Buffers help
in crime analysis by illustrating the relative distances between features on a map. The example map in
Figure 4.6 shows a park (polygon feature) with a 500-foot buffer, which could be used to show whether
drug arrests were made within 500 feet of the park.

Buffers can also be used as polygons for data aggregation and comparison. Figure 4.7 shows two buffers
(500 feet and 1000 feet) around nightclubs (point features), which analysts could use to compare
incidents directly around the night- clubs to those farther out to see whether the activity has a spillover
effect on surrounding neighborhoods.

Figure 4.7 Buffer Map Example:

Crime analysts often use graduated maps—that is, maps in which different sizes or colors of features
represent particular values of variables. Figures 4.8 and 4.9 are general examples of graduated size and
graduated color maps, respectively.

In a graduated size map, the sizes of the symbols used for point and line features reflect their value. As
noted above, single-symbol maps are not appropriate for dis- playing data about crimes that occur at
the same locations repeatedly. Analysts use
graduated size maps for this purpose, because
these maps can account for multiple incidents
at the same locations. However, like single-
symbol maps, graduated size maps are subject
to overlapping points if too many data are
analyzed at once.

Figure 4.8 is a map in which points are

In a graduated color map, the colors of the

Figure 4.9 is a map that uses colors to show the total numbers of crimes in particular areas—the lighter
shaded areas are those with fewer crimes, and
the darker shaded areas are those with more Figure 4.8 Graduated Size Map Example
crimes.

Chart Mapping

Chart mapping allows the crime analyst to display several values within a particular variable at the same
time (e.g., variable  crime, values  robbery, assault, and rape). There are two types of chart mapping:
pie and bar. In pie chart mapping, the relative percentages (represented by slices of a pie) of values
within a variable are displayed. Figure 4.10 is an example of a pie chart map that depicts fights, drugs,
weapons, and disorderly conduct incidents at nightclubs. The pies are placed at the locations of all the
nightclubs in the area mapped, and the sizes of the pies are graduated to depict the total occupancy
capacities of the nightclubs, which provides a relative comparison. Some of the nightclubs represented
have had all four types of incidents, whereas others have had only two or three of the four, and the
percent- ages (slices) are based only on the frequencies of the values included (not all types of incidents
at all nightclubs).

In bar chart mapping, the relative frequencies (represented by bars) of values within variables are
displayed. In the example in Figure 4.11, bar charts are placed at the locations of the nightclubs in the
area mapped. This figure depicts the same data shown in Figure 4.10, but instead of percentages, the
heights of the bars show the frequencies of incidents.

Density Mapping

In density mapping, analysts use point data to shade surfaces that are not limited to area boundaries (as
is the case in graduated color mapping). In their most basic form, density maps are shaded according to
the concentration of incidents in particular areas. In the map shown in Figure 4.12, the darker colors
represent areas in which the incidents are more concentrated, and the lighter colors represent those in
which the incidents are less concentrated. Such maps are used to compare small variations in crime
levels from one area to another rather than to compare levels of crime within fixed artificial geographic
boundaries, as in area maps.
 Figure 4.10 Pie Chart Map
Example

Figure 4.12 Density Map

Interactive Crime Mapping

Rather than a type of mapping, the term interactive crime mapping refers to simplified geographic
information systems made available to novice users over the Internet. Many police departments have
interactive Web sites where citizens and police officers can conduct basic crime mapping themselves.
These applications typically are not flexible or sophisticated enough to be useful to crime analysts. To
illustrate interactive crime mapping, Figures 4.13 and 4.14 depict selected screens found on the East
Valley COMPASS (Community Mapping, Planning and Analysis for Safety Strategies) interactive Web site,
which is hosted by the Redlands, California, Police Department.