Law Enforcement Operations and Planning
CHAPTER 7
CRIME MAPPING
Learning Objectives:
At the end of this chapter, the students will be able to:
1. Define Crime Mapping;
1. Identify the types of mapping being employed in law
enforcement;
1. Identify salient points in the history of Crime Mapping;
1. Explain the relationship between crime and
place/location;
1. Differentiate the levels of Theories of Crime;
1. Identify and explain some theories under Environmental
Criminology;
1. Define Geographic Information System;
1. Identify the different types of data in GIS;
1. Identify the types of spatial data/features in GIS;
1. Explain the relationship between Crime Mapping and
GIS;
1. Explain and appreciate the role of crime mapping in Law
enforcement; and
1. Identify and explain the types of Crime Analysis
What is Crime Mapping?
Crime Mapping is associated with the simple display and
querying of crime data using a Geographic Information
System (GIS)⁴³. It is a general term that encompasses
the technical aspects of visualization and statistical
techniques, as well as practical aspects of geographic
principles and criminological theories (Wilson and Filbert
K, 2008). The term is a combination of visualization and
statistical techniques manifested as software. This
combination of techniques is shared between mapping,
spatial analysis and spatial data analysis. Mapping is
simply a visualization tool that is used to display raw
geographic data and output from analysis, which is done
through a GIS (Wilson and Filbert K, 2008).
Types of Mapping
Here are the types of mapping being employed in law
enforcement, particularly that of crime mapping (Boba,
2001):
1. Manual Pin Mapping
Wall maps have long been a simple and useful way to
depict crime incidents or hot spots. Many police
departments still have large maps tacked to the wall of
the briefing room with the most recent crimes
represented by pins. Although useful, manual wall maps
offer limited utility because they are difficult to keep
updated, keep accurate, make easy to read, and can
only display a limited amount of data. For example,
although different colored pins could be used to
represent different types of crime, date and time of
incidents, the nature of incidents, and other information
cannot be displayed easily. In order to update a manual
wall map, for example, the pins must be removed each
month. Unless a photo or some other mechanism is
used to record the previous month's map, the
information illustrated on the map is lost. Thus,
comparison is difficult, if not impossible, from one month
to the next. Finally, the maps become unreadable when
they display large amounts of data because of the
numerous pins and/or holes (Boba, 2001, p. 18).
⁴³ A geographic information system (GIS) is a system
that creates, manages, analyzes, and maps all types of
data. GIS connects data to a map, integrating location
data (where things are) with all types of descriptive
information (what things are like there). This provides a
foundation for mapping and analysis that is used in
science and almost every industry. GIS helps users
understand patterns, relationships, and geographic
context.
2. Computer Mapping
Computer map is similar to a wall map, in that the
computer is used to place a point at a specific location
just as a person would put a pin on a
wall map. Thus, computer maps have limitations similar
to wall maps. While visually appealing and easy to use,
computer mapping does not allow any more effective
analysis than manual pin mapping (Boba, 2001, p. 19).
3. Geographic Information System (GIS)
A GIS is a powerful software tool that allows the user to
create anything from a simple point map to a three-
dimensional visualization of spatial or temporal data. A
GIS is different from manual pin maps and computer
maps in that it allows the analyst to view data behind the
geographic features, combine various features,
manipulate the data and maps, and perform statistical
functions (Boba, 2001, p. 19).
4. Crime Analysis Mapping
It is the process of using a geographic information
system in combination with crime analysis techniques to
focus on the spatial context of criminal and other law
enforcement activity (Boba, 2001, p. 20). In this report,
the term crime analysis mapping is used to describe this
process because using a GIS to analyze crime is not
just the act of placing incidents on a map but also of
analysis.
History of Crime Mapping
The first instance of crime mapping is in 1829, Adriano
Balbi and André Michel Guerry produced maps showing
the relationships between educational level and violent
and property crime in France (Dent, 2000). The
production of maps that showed rates of male
incarceration and county crime started in 1849 by
Joseph Fletcher, and in 1861 by Henry Mayhew
(Chamard, 2006).
In the early 20th century, Clifford Shaw and Henry
McKay mapped thousands of incidents of juvenile
delinquency and analyzed the relationships between
delinquency and various social conditions in the United
States (Shaw and McKay, 1942). They found that the
zone
adjacent to the central business district, the zone of
transition, perpetually suffered from the highest rates of
juvenile delinquency and other social problems
regardless of the specific ethnic group occupying the
zone at the time.
In the 1950s, Jane Jacobs introduced constructs that
are still used in today's place-based research, such as
eyes on the street⁴⁴ and social capital ⁴⁵. Although
Jacobs did not attempt to forecast crime, her work led to
later research positing that crime has spatial patterns
and thus should be able to be forecast. Criminologists
began to emphasize the importance of place in the
1970s. Lawrence Cohen and Marcus Felson's routine
activities theory (RAT)⁴⁶ described how routine activities
affect crime (Cohen and Felson, 1979). Cohen and
Felson argued that due to the consistency in routines,
crime should be able to be forecast; the spatial and
temporal structure of routine legal activities should play
an important role in determining the location, type, and
quantity of illegal acts occurring in a given community or
society (Cohen and Felson, 1979).
The late 1960s and early 1970s were critical for the
development of crime mapping. In 1966, the Harvard
Lab for Computer Graphics and Spatial Analysis
developed SYMAP⁴⁷ or the Synagraphic Mapping
System, one of the first widely distributed computerized
mapping software programs. Then, in 1969, the
Environmental Science and Research Institute⁴⁸ was
founded and became one of the top distributors of GIS
software, including the current ArcView and ArcGIS
software packages. Also around this time, the U.S.
Census Bureau began the
⁴⁴ Jacobs refers to the concept of "eyes on the street"
which is the activity taking place in city streets that
keeps the movement and security of the street
intact. She suggests that where there is a crowd of
people, streets are safer to use because if someone is in
trouble the eyes on the street are ready to assist and
protect from danger. She refers to this constant mix of
strangers on the street as an "intricate ballet" or a dance
where everyone contributes to the well-being of the
street in making it a
livable place (Jagannath, 2016).
⁴⁵ Social Capital is the everyday activities and
interactions that occur in a neighborhood slowly build up
a network of relationships between neighbors. This
"social capital" provides a foundation for mutual trust,
shared efforts, and resilience in times of trouble
(Jane'swalk org. 2017).
⁴⁶ According to RAT, for a crime to occur, three things
must coincide at the same place and time: a person
motivated to commit a crime, a suitable target, and a
lack of capable guardianship.
⁴⁷ SYMAP was the first automated computer mapping
system that included spatial-analytic capabilities applied
to spatially distributed data. It was based on line-printer
technology. Its principal technical innovations for
graphics were to enable the typeface ball on the printer
to be stopped and a series of overprinting commands to
be invoked, which then created a gray scale.
⁴⁸ ESR is New Zealand's Crown Research Institute
specializing in science for communities. ESR uses
world-leading science to safeguard health, keep
communities safer, protect food-based economy, and
improve the health of water and natural environment.
ambitious Geographic Base Files and Dual
Independent Map Encoding (GBF-DIME) project,
which was used to create digitized street maps for all
cities in the United States during the 1970 census⁴⁹
(support.esri. com, 2022). These advances were
necessary for the development of GIS programs used in
crime mapping.
During the 1980s, National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
funded evaluations of place-based policing strategies,
including the research by Sherman and colleagues as
well as similar research in Chicago. NIJ also began
funding the development of technologies that were later
incorporated into crime-mapping software (Hunt, 2019).
In 1997, NIJ established the Crime Mapping Research
Center⁵⁰, which surveyed law enforcement departments
to determine how they used analytic mapping (Harries,
1999). In 2016, NIJ released the Real-Time Crime
Forecasting Challenge⁵¹, which asked competitors to
forecast where crime was likely to cluster in the future
within the jurisdiction of the Portland (Oregon) Police
Bureau (Hunt, 2019).
Crime Mapping in the Philippines
In 2012, the PNP Cordillera developed a GIS-based tool
for more accurate crime analysis and internal security
operation. The E-Blotter⁵² and Mobile Tracking
System of Patrol Vehicles⁵³ in the region are also
incorporated in the GIS project to further improve the
police's response time on any incident. With the help of
this new system, local patrol vehicles can be monitored
for easier dispatch in any incident, accident or disaster-
hit areas (Geospatial World, 2012).
⁴⁹ GBF-DIME or Geographic Base Files/Dual
Independent Map Encoding. Vector geographic base
files made for the 1970 and 1980 U.S. censuses,
containing address ranges, ZIP Codes, and the
coordinates of street segments and intersections for
most metropolitan areas in the United States. TIGER
files replaced DIME files for the 1990 and subsequent
censuses.
⁵⁰ Crime Mapping Research Center provided training in
computer mapping technology, collect and archive
geocoded crime data, and develop analytic software.
⁵¹ The Real-Time Crime Forecasting Challenge sought
to harness the advances in data science to address the
challenges of crime and justice. It encouraged data
scientists across all scientific disciplines to foster
innovation in forecasting methods.
⁵² Recently known as Crime Information Reporting and
Analysis System (CIRAS) is an electronic database
system that facilitates crime documentation and
systematic data storage and retrieval. It was launched
on September 6, 2011 to serve as a more efficient
electronic blotter system across the country.
⁵³ In accordance with NAPOLCOM Resolution No. 2009-
651, GPS tracking devices will be installed in every
mobile asset of the unit, patrol vehicles, SWAT vehicles,
motorcycles, and other police vehicles.
The Police Regional Office Cordillera Web-based
Crime Mapping⁵⁴ allows the general public and the
community to view up-to-date crime incidents within the
region. It is their belief that providing this information to
the public will help in reducing crime in the
region. Knowing where and when crimes happen allows
the public to avoid being a victim by taking precautions
when passing through those locations or taking
alternative routes (Police Regional Office Cordillera,
2012).
In 2016, as part of the 12 Key Result Areas of the PNP
Patrol Plan 2030⁵⁵ which is Information Technology; the
PNP aims to develop and implement a PNP Integrated
Crime Management Information System, or CMIS. The
system will be designed to work as part of the broader
criminal justice information system architecture. The
PNP CMIS will operate at the police station level
providing transaction processing modules that will feed
into a crime database, tracking, and monitoring system
that will enable crime mapping and analysis at station
and higher geographical levels (PNP, 2016).
Theoretical Explanations of Crime and Place
Theories of crime and place understand crime in a
physical or spatial environment. They explain crime
patterns by the location of targets, offenders' choice of
travel routes, use of space for various activities, and the
innate ability of a place or target to defend itself (what-
when-how.om, n.d.). Theories of crime and place can be
described as belonging together under the umbrella of
what is called Environmental Criminology (Brantingham
and Brantingham, 1981).
⁵⁴ The information provided online is limited to the basic
attributes of
the crime and does not expose the victim's identity nor
the suspect. Residents can also give tips or feedback
regarding crimes and other issues to the Police force
and the community. They strongly encourage the public
to report crimes to the nearest Police Station within their
respective location. This engages them to become
partners in crime prevention and control.
⁵⁵ The PNP PATROL Plan 2030 or PNP Peace and
Order Agenda for Transformation and Upholding of the
Rule of Law (PNP PATROL Plan 2030) is the PNP's
organizational ad-aptation of the National Government's
Performance Governance System (PGS) that is a local
adaptation of the Harvard Business School's Balanced
Scorecard (BSC) as a strategic management and
performance measurement tool to attain its vision of
safe place to live,
Level of Theories of Crime
1. Macro-Level
Theories of crime and place at this level of spatial
aggregation explain crime patterns across larger
areas. Examples of macro-level crime and place
theories include routine activity theory and crime pattern
theory.
2. Meso-Level
Explanations of crime at the meso-level explain crime at
an intermediate level of spatial aggregation. Examples
of crime and place theories at the meso-level include
territorial functioning and collective efficacy.
3. Micro-Level
Theories at the micro-level focus on explanations of
crime at the individual level or at the actual location of
the crime. An example of these theories is rational
choice theory.
Environmental Criminology
Environmental criminology is the study of crime as it
occurs within a geographical area, and it's a positivist
theory that suggests crime is influenced, if not caused,
by a person's spatial environment. The basis is
specifically how individuals, with all their diverse
attributes, become influenced to commit crimes by the
elements in their immediate location (Environmental
Criminology: Definition, Theory & Crime Analysis,
2021). Environmental criminologists look for crime
patterns and seek to explain them in terms of
environmental influences. From these explanations, they
derive rules that enable predictions to be made about
emerging crime problems, and that ultimately inform the
development of strategies that might be employed to
prevent crime (Wortley and Mazerolle, 2013, p.1).
Rational Choice Theory
Rational choice theory, also called rational action
theory or choice theory, is a school of thought based
on the assumption that individuals choose a course of
action that is most in line with their personal preferences
(Amadae, 2021). It posits that people calculate the costs
and benefits of choices in making decisions. The
perceived costs, risks, benefits of certain actions can be
dependent on one's own personal preferences
(Nickerson, 2021).
Routine Activities Theory
Developed by Marcus Felson and Lawrence E. Cohen
(1979), routine activities theory requires three elements
be present for a crime to occur: 1) a motivated offender
with criminal intentions and the ability to act on these
inclinations, 2) a suitable victim or target, and 3) the
absence of a capable guardian who can prevent the
crime from happening. These three elements must
converge in time and space for a crime to occur.
Routine activities theory relates the pattern of offending
to the everyday patterns of social interaction. Crime is
therefore normal and is
dependent on available opportunities to offend. If there
is an unprotected target and there are sufficient rewards,
a motivated offender will commit a crime. It is an
approach in criminology which examines the ways in
which the everyday behavior of individuals exposes
them to more or less risk of being a victim. The
exploration of such routine activities allows the
criminologist to identify 'hot spots' where criminal activity
is likely to be concentrated (Nickerson, 2022).
Cartographic School
The cartographic school of criminology represents or
examines the relationship of criminality to the physical
environment and other social factors. Lambert Adolphe
Jacques Quételet (a Belgium mathematician) and
Andre-Michel Guerre (a French statistician) in Europe
during the 1830's and 1840's were the proponents of
this school of criminology. They compiled detailed
statistical information relating to crime and also
attempted to identify the circumstances that predisposed
people to commit crimes (Hagan, 2010).
This school of thought used maps to plot crimes within a
certain geographic area. It also uses mathematics and
statistics in conjunction with cartographic practices to
promote scientific knowledge about crime's relationship
to social factors.
