NCJ Number
67259
Date Published
1977
Length
4 pages
Annotation
HOUSTON'S POLICE DEPARTMENT STARTED IMPLEMENTATION OF A GEOGRAPHIC BASE FILE (GBF) IN 1956 WITH ITS CIVILIAN DATA PROCESSING UNIT; SINCE THEN, THE FILE HAS BEEN GREATLY EXPANDED AND IMPROVED.
Abstract
THE HOUSTON GBF CONSISTS OF MORE THAN 178,277 RECORDS. THESE ARE USED FOR CAPTURING ACCIDENT DATA SUCH AS LOCATION, STREET NAME, BLOCK NUMBER, DISTRICT, AND STREET CODES. OTHER USES OF THE FILE INCLUDE INFORMATION ON POLICE BEATS, CENSUS TRACTS, CODING OF ODD AND EVEN SIDES OF STREETS, RADIO ZONES, AND LOW AND HIGH INTERSECTION INFORMATION. MOST RECENT CAPABILITY ADDITIONS HAVE BEEN CRIME TREND ANALYSIS, INVESTIGATIVE SUPPORT, RESEARCH STATISTICS, RESOURCE ALLOCATION, AND TRAFFIC ANALYSIS. STREET NAME CHANGES ARE REPORTED TO THE FILE THROUGH THE CITY SECRETARY'S OFFICE, THE HOUSTON LIGHT AND POWER COMPANY UTILITY MAPS, MONTHLY EDITS AND COMPARISONS OF MAJOR STREET NAMES AND BLOCK RANGES THAT DO NOT MATCH, THE POLICE DISPATCHER'S DIVISION (ADVISING ON DISCREPANCIES FOUND IN THE FILE DURING CALLS-FOR-SERVICE), AND GEO OFFICERS PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS OF DISCREPANCIES. ABOUT 10,000 UPDATES PER MONTH ARE MADE IN RESPONSE TO THESE VARIOUS REPORTS. THE POLICE DEPARTMENT'S FILE IS ALSO LINKED BY ONLINE FILES TO THE TEXAS CRIME INFORMATION CENTER AND THE NATIONAL CRIME INFORMATION CENTER (NCIC) OF THE FBI. POLICE PERSONNEL WITHIN HOUSTON'S NCIC DIVISION TRAIN SUPERVISORY AND CIVILIAN PERSONNEL TO RETRIEVE INFORMATION FROM THE FILE. EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE TO TRAIN ALL OFFICERS TO LEARN SYSTEM OPERATION. FILES BEING DEVELOPED OR PROPOSED INCLUDE THE SOUNDEX FILE, COMMON PLACE NAME FILE, MISSPELLING FILE, STREET NAME AND ABBREVIATION FILE, AND HAZARDOUS LOCATION FILE. OTHER PROPOSED USES OF THE GBF SYSTEM INCLUDE IMPLEMENTATION OF A COMPUTER-AIDED DISPATCH SYSTEM AND AN AUTOMATED RECORDS SYSTEM. TABLES ILLUSTRATE THE GEO-FILE RECORD ELEMENTS. (MHP)