The World of GIS and Criminal Profiling

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The World of GIS and Criminal
Profiling
Map layout designed by Lydia Radden
By Lydia Radden Introduction into GIS 305,
Winter 2007
Introduction Before the use of GIS, criminal
profiling was often a painstakingly tedious and
arduous task which involved the manual
manipulation of detectives placing and
positioning colored pins on a map. Consuming
considerable manpower and time, this tedious and
arduous task was often done by one-or-more police
personal, of which this method presented numerous
challenges in the way of precision, accuracy, and
validity. One of those challenges became quite
the obstacle as detectives used colored pins to
track criminals, often taking up to a week or
more to update. Fortunately, for law
enforcement, GIS has functionally become the
preferred vehicle in criminal profiling used
nationwide , in which an example of geographic
profiling was the manhunt for the snipers that
had terrorized Washington, D.C. n

What are some of the Task GIS can
Perform? Construct, types of criminal behavior,
embezzlement, burglary, murder rape, homicide,
kidnapping, extortion, etc. Provide location of
crimes, i.e. airport, banks, local
neighborhoods, shopping centers, entertainment
areas, motels, bus terminals, etc. Develop a
modus operandi, i.e. abduction, forced entry, use
of a particular weapon, victim type, trickery,
bodily force, etc. Profile frequency of criminal
activity, stolen vehicle, robbery, assault, BE,
murder, etc. Display weapon types, handguns,
knives, assault style automatic , poison,
explosives, etc. Method and point of
attack Provide valuable resources through world
wide networking
Discussion When I first went into this project I
really didnt know what to expect, I had to
research a number of websites looking for data,
this was the real challenge, because I had
searched numerous sites which yielded absolutely
nothing, until I came across this particular site
the National Atlas.gov, by chance. After I
downloaded the data, it was a matter of
formatting my maps, with the output and making
sure the data was correct for both counties, I
had to count and re-count the figures, which
could have lead to an error, if not calculated
correctly.
Introduction cont. The Crime Mapping and Analysis
Program (CMAP) provides technical assistance and
training to state and local agencies in crime and
intelligence analysis and geographic information
systems. Curiosity QuestCuriosity Quest trains
law enforcement personnel in the art and science
of crime mapping and analysis. ESRI GIS in Law
EnforcementESRI creates a data information
program on the use of GIS in law enforcement.
GeoprofilingESRI develops a sophisticated and
intelligent method of locating serial criminals
using geography. Police FoundationThe
organization works to advance the understanding
of computer mapping, to pioneer new applications
in mapping, and to assist law enforcement
agencies seeking to incorporate mapping/GIS into
their operations. Spatial Analysis of Crime
Using GIS-Based DataDissertation outlining
specifications for utilizing data
Methodology The steps chosen to complete this
project 1) A map profile of the United States
was taken from ArcGIS 2) Shapefiles of counties,
cities, and lakes were added to outline the
perimeter and forward data onto the map. 3)
Crime statistics were downloaded from the
National Atlas.gov site, which contains a wealth
of data, i.e. history, geography, people, etc. 4)
Four maps were created including data based on
the murder rate, rape, robbery and burglary
nationwide. 5) After creating a map profile
including these four elements, then it was time
to open the attribute table and select by Oakland
and Wayne Counties statistics for the murder
rate, rape, robbery, and burglary for 2000 and
2002 6) Created a map layout for the United
States totals, along crimes reported for 2000 and
2002, including in the layout Oakland and Wayne
County stats.  
Objectives of this project was to see if there
would be huge differences in criminal behavior
between Oakland and Wayne County, covering the
periods of 2000 and 2002, considering Oakland
County is more affluent.
References and Resources Map profile of the
United States was take from the program files of
ArcGis and the criminal statistics was taken
from the National Atlas, gov.
Results Before I reviewed the data, I had
already made the assumption Wayne County would
have a greater degree of criminal activity than
Oakland County. According to the results robbery
and burglary was more dominant in Wayne than
Oakland County. What was surprising, however,
while the murder rate had decreased in Oakland
County from 232000 to 14 2002, the number of
reported rapes rose from 3142000 to 3952002.
While in Wayne County, the murder rate increased
from 4472000 to 4642002 and the number
reported rapes decreased from 12302000 to
11622002. These findings were quite surprising
because I wasnt expecting the number of rapes to
increase, while the murder rate decreased in
Oakland County, considering it is more affluent.
And likewise, the number of reported rapes
decreased in Wayne County was totally unexpected,
considering its struggle with poverty and
unemployment. Further research needs to be done
in order to explain this phenomenon. .