NCJ Number
182542
Editor(s)
Victor Goldsmith,
Philip G. McGuire,
John H. Mollenkopf,
Timothy A. Ross
Date Published
2000
Length
195 pages
Annotation
This book shows how state-of-the-art geographic information systems are revolutionizing urban law enforcement through sophisticated analyses of crime distribution and characteristics.
Abstract
Part I contains four chapters that provide an overview of mapping and geographic information systems in crime analysis. One chapter outlines the type of data that must be collected and then categorizes several methods used to analyze spatial crime data. Another chapter discusses the integration of crime mapping into the COMPSTAT process used by the New York City Police Department. A third chapter argues that crime data alone rarely provide enough information for an adequate understanding of criminal problems. The fourth chapter indicates that the spatial analysis of crime has broadened understanding of criminal activity, but it has also generated many continuing controversies. Part II has four chapters that describe several methods for identifying and analyzing geographic concentrations of criminal activity ("hot spots"). These include repeat address mapping, exploratory data analysis of crime patterns, the use of kernel smoothing to identify "hot spots," and the utility of standard deviation ellipses for evaluating "hot spots." The four chapters in Part III seek to go beyond identifying "hot spots" by offering various explanations for spatial variation in crime. The single chapter in Part IV evaluates software used to generate spatial statistics. For individual chapters, see NCJ-182543-48. Chapter tables, figures, and references and a subject index