NCJ Number
67256
Date Published
1977
Length
6 pages
Annotation
THE SUNNYVALE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY IN CALIFORNIA JOINED WITH OTHER MAJOR CITY DEPARTMENTS AND IMPLEMENTED AN ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION FILE (EIF) OF WHICH THE GEOGRAPHIC BASE FILE (GBF) IS A CENTRAL PART.
Abstract
THE EIF IS PART OF THE LARGER CITY MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEM (MIS), WHICH IS RUN ENTIRELY ON MINICOMPUTERS (DIGITAL EQUIPMENT CORPORATION PDP 11/70'S), AND IS SUPPLEMENTED BY A MOTOROLA COMPUTER-AIDED DISPATCH (CAD) SYSTEM. THE SUNNYVALE SYSTEM GEOCODES ITS INFORMATION BOTH THROUGH A REPORTING DISTRICT APPROACH WHICH PARALLELS THE TRADITIONAL GRID APPROACH AND THROUGH STREET ADDRESS BY APPLYING THE DUAL INDEPENDENT MAP ENCODING (DIME) TECHNIQUE DEVELOPED BY THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU. THE MAJOR FILES IN THE GBF SUBSYSTEM INCLUDE COMMON LOCATORS AND MISSPELLINGS, A STREET MASTER FILE, INTERSECTION CONTROL FILE, A STREET CROSS-REFERENCE FILE, A GEOGRAPHIC BASE FILE, AND A PARCEL FILE. THE FIRST THREE ARE USED FOR ONLINE STREET ADDRESS EDITING AND ENCODING; THE FOURTH IS USED FOR ONLINE INQUIRY AND ONLINE ANALYSIS, AND THE LAST TWO ARE USED IN A BATCH ENVIRONMENT FOR GEOCODING A COLLECTION OF DATA FOR INDEPTH ANALYSIS OR MAPPING. THE PRIMARY USE OF THE GEORGRAPHIC INFORMATION IS MANAGEMENT REPORTS. THE SECOND MAJOR AREA OF APPLICATION IS CRIME ANALYSIS. FINALLY, THE GRIDS PROGRAM DEVELOPED BY THE U.S. CENSUS BUREAU IS BEING USED FOR COMPUTER MAPPING IN SUNNYVALE. VARIOUS COMPUTER MAPS OF CRIME PATTERNS FOR DIFFERENT LEVELS OF INTEREST CAN BE PRODUCED THROUGH CONTROL OF THE GRID SIZE. THE SUNNYDALE DEPARTMENT HOPES TO LINK UP THE COMPUTERS SO THAT THE GBF'S CAN BE ACCESSED BY THE CAD SYSTEM. THE DEPARTMENT ALSO PLANS TO USE ITS ADDRESS GEOCODED DATA TO ASSIST IN MANAGEMENT DECISION ON BEAT DESIGN AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION THROUGH COMPUTER SIMULATION THAT ADDRESSES BOTH THE DEPLOYMENT AND ALLOCATION QUESTION SIMULTANEOUSLY. (MHP)