NCJ Number
221941
Journal
Geography & Public Safety Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Dated: February 2008 Pages: 1-16
Editor(s)
Judith Beres
Date Published
February 2008
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This journal issue contains articles on applied geography for the study of crime and public safety, the targeting of crime in "hot spots" and "hot places," the use of ModelBuilder for tasks related to a geographic information system (GIS), and how police and students are helped by the Crime Mapping Center of the California University of Pennsylvania.
Abstract
In explaining how applied geography is relevant for the study of crime and public safety, the first article relies on two books: "Mapping the New Millennium: How Computer Drive Cartography Is Revolutionizing the Face of Science," by Stephen S. Hall; and "Rediscovering Geography: New Relevance for Science and Society," by the National Geographic Council's Rediscovering Geography Committee. Together, these books show that a combination of geographic technologies, theories, and principles has helped police analyze complex crime and public safety problems with a full complement of tools. The second article explains how spatial data analysis software has advanced in recent years, providing researchers with the ability to perform a more sophisticated analysis of crime "hot spots," which can direct policing efforts and crime prevention to the neediest geographic areas. The third article features a description of Environmental Systems Research Institute's ModelBuilder, which is a component of a type of GIS software called ArcMap. ModelBuilder allows for drag-and-drop development of complex geoprocessing tasks, so crime analysts can expedite their daily geoprocessing tasks for map production. The concluding article describes the Crime Mapping Center of the California University of Pennsylvania, which, under funding from the U.S. Justice Department, has helped local police departments identify crime trends while helping students interested in law enforcement build careers in crime mapping.