Crime mapping has been used with great affect when trying to curb armed robberies and other violent crimes. Importantly, crime mapping has been shown to have the ability to reduce these crimes by giving departments the ability to target certain areas and flood those areas with more officers in anticipation of crimes. Importantly, this technology, using GIS crime mapping, allows police departments to do more than just respond to crime after the fact. The goal is to provide officers with the chance to respond to crime up front so that it can be stopped rather than simply coming after the crime to be deal with the victims and the reporting.
One particular approach that has proven effective has been hot spot strategies. Using crime mapping, some departments have been able to identify hot spots where serial robbers have been targeting. They can use mapping to look at what types of properties a person is breaking into and what kinds of neighborhoods or communities tend to be the most at risk. This then presents police with more options, as they can put more officers in those areas. They can use more targeted surveillance to ensure that they have eyes and ears in those areas. Impressively, some departments have been able and willing to use crime mapping technology alongside technology in community policing. This means that once they use the crime mapping technology to identify a hot spot area, they are then able to use community policing to go out into those communities and speak to the actual people who live there. This allows police to fulfill their function of making sure that the people in their community are supported. Likewise, it makes it more likely that neighbors and members of the community will file reports and will call police when they see a suspicious person or a suspect in a given criminal investigation. These tools tend to work together whenever departments have plans in place to ensure that the technology is being used for positive purposes.
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"Crime Mapping Strategies".
Crime mapping is an effective tool in combating crime. One of the reasons why this is the case is because crimes tend to happen in specific areas for specific reasons. This is not to say that all crime is localized or that all crime is based upon the specific elements of an area. Rather, it is just to suggest that people tend to commit crimes in a condensed area. Likewise, crime statistics on the whole suggest that people tend to commit the most crimes closest to where they live. While it is not uncommon in some cities for people to venture into other neighborhoods in order to commit property crimes, even in those instances, they are usually hitting neighboring neighborhoods and communities that are somewhat close to their own. This means that the use of crime mapping provides police officers and tactical strategists with a starting point for identifying where crime might take place. It is critical to understand that crime mapping is not a strategy that should be used on its own to stop crime. Ultimately it is just one tool that must be used in conjunction with many more tools for those departments that want to cut down on crime the most. Crime mapping has to be used in a way that supports tactical operations. This means that it is critical to use crime mapping to identify areas of need, where more officers can be placed. Likewise, crime mapping can provide insight into where specific types of officers are needed. If one area is more prone to drug crimes, for instance, then tactical drug units are needed there rather than just general policing units.
