Computerized crime mapping or GIS in law enforcement agencies has experienced rapid growth, particularly since the mid 1990s. There has also been increasing interests in GIS analysis of crime from various academic fields including criminology, geography, urban planning, information science and others. This book features a diverse array of GIS applications in crime analysis, from general issues such as GIS as a communication process and inter-jurisdictional data sharing to specific applications in tracking serial killers and predicting juvenile violence. Geographic Information Systems and Crime Analysis showcases a broad range of methods and techniques from typical GIS tasks such as geocoding and hotspot analysis to advanced technologies such as geographic profiling, agent-based modeling and web GIS. Contributors range from university professors, criminologists in research institutes to police chiefs, GIS analysts in police departments and consultants in criminal justice.

In the last decade there has been a phenomenal growth in interest in crime pattern analysis. Geographic information systems are now widely used in urban police agencies throughout industrial nations. With this, scholarly interest in understanding crime patterns has grown considerably. ""Artificial Crime Analysis Systems: Using Computer Simulations and Geographic Information Systems"" discusses leading research on the use of computer simulation of crime patterns to reveal hidden processes of urban crimes, taking an interdisciplinary approach by combining criminology, computer simulation, and geographic information systems into one comprehensive resource.

The growing potential of GIS for supporting policing and crime reduction is now being recognised by a broader community. GIS can be employed at different levels to support operational policing, tactical crime mapping, detection, and wider-ranging strategic analyses. With the use of GIS for crime mapping increasing, this book provides a definitive reference. GIS and Crime Mapping provides essential information and reference material to support readers in developing and implementing crime mapping. Relevant case studies help demonstrate the key principles, concepts and applications of crime mapping. This book combines the topics of theoretical principles, GIS, analytical techniques, data processing solutions, information sharing, problem-solving approaches, map design, and organisational structures for using crime mapping for policing and crime reduction. Delivered in an accessible style, topics are covered in a manner that underpins crime mapping use in the three broad areas of operations, tactics and strategy. Provides a complete start-to-finish coverage of crime mapping, including theory, scientific methodologies, analysis techniques and design principles. Includes a comprehensive presentation of crime mapping applications for operational, tactical and strategic purposes. Includes global case studies and examples to demonstrate good practice. Co-authored by Spencer Chainey, a leading researcher and consultant on GIS and crime mapping, and Jerry Ratcliffe, a renowned professor and former police officer. This book is essential reading for crime analysts and other professionals working in intelligence roles in law enforcement or crime reduction, at the local, regional and national government levels. It is also an excellent reference for undergraduate and Masters students taking courses in GIS, Geomatics, Crime Mapping, Crime Science, Criminal Justice and Criminology.

Geographical Information System and Crime Mapping features a diverse array of Geographic Information System (GIS) applications in crime analysis, from general issues such as GIS as a communication process, interjurisdictional mapping and data sharing to specific applications in tracking serial killers and predicting violence-prone zones. It supports readers in developing and implementing crime mapping techniques. The distribution of crime is explained with reference to theories of human ecology, transport network, built environment, housing markets, and forms of urban management, including policing. Concepts are supported with relevant case studies and real-time crime data to illustrate concepts and applications of crime mapping. Aimed at senior undergraduate, graduate students, professionals in GIS, Crime Analysis, Spatial Analysis, Ergonomics and human factors, this book: Provides an update of GIS applications for crime mapping studies Highlights growing potential of GIS for crime mapping, monitoring, and reduction through developing and implementing crime mapping techniques Covers Operational Research, Spatial Regression model, Point Analysis and so forth Builds models helpful in police patrolling, surveillance and crime mapping from a technology perspective Includes a dedicated section on case studies including exercises and data samples

Recent years in North America have seen a rapid development in the area of crime analysis and mapping using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technology. In 1996, the US National Institute of Justice (NIJ) established the crime mapping research center (CMRC), to promote research, evaluation, development, and dissemination of GIS technology. The long-term goal is to develop a fully functional Crime Analysis System (CAS) with standardized data collection and reporting mechanisms, tools for spatial and temporal analysis, visualization of data and much more. Among the drawbacks of current crime analysis systems is their lack of tools for spatial analysis. For this reason, spatial analysts should research which current analysis techniques (or variations of such techniques) that have been already successfully applied to other areas (e.g., epidemiology, location-allocation analysis, etc.) can also be employed to the spatial analysis of crime data. This book presents a few of those cases.

GIS Tutorial for Crime Analysis, second edition presents state-of-the-art crime mapping and analysis methods that can be incorporated into any police department's current practices.

The Encyclopedia of RESEARCH METHODS IN CRIMINOLOGY & CRIMINAL JUSTICE The most comprehensive reference work on research designs and methods in criminology and criminal justice This Encyclopedia of Research Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice offers a comprehensive survey of research methodologies and statistical techniques that are popular in criminology and criminal justice systems across the globe. With contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in the field, it offers a clear insight into the techniques that are currently in use to answer the pressing questions in criminology and criminal justice. The Encyclopedia contains essential information from a diverse pool of authors about research designs grounded in both qualitative and quantitative approaches. It includes information on popular datasets and leading resources of government statistics. In addition, the contributors cover a wide range of topics such as: the most current research on the link between guns and crime, rational choice theory, and the use of technology like geospatial mapping as a crime reduction tool. This invaluable reference work: Offers a comprehensive survey of international research designs, methods, and statistical techniques Includes contributions from leading figures in the field Contains data on criminology and criminal justice from Cambridge to Chicago Presents information on capital punishment, domestic violence, crime science, and much more Helps us to better understand, explain, and prevent crime Written for undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers, The Encyclopedia of Research Methods in Criminology and Criminal Justice is the first reference work of its kind to offer a comprehensive review of this important topic.

Crime control continues to be a growth industry, despite the drop in crime indicators throughout the nation. This volume shows how state-of-the-art geographic information systems (GIS) are revolutionizing urban law enforcement, with an award-winning program in New York City leading the way. Electronic "pin mapping" is used to display the incidence of crime, to stimulate effective strategies and decision making, and to evaluate the impact of recent activity applied to hotspots. The expert information presented by 12 contributors will guide departments without such tools to understand the latest technologies and successfully employ them. Besides describing and assessing cutting-edge techniques of crime mapping, this book emphasizes: * the organizational and intellectual contexts in which spatial analysis of crime takes place, * the technical problems of defining, measuring, interpreting, and predicting spatial concentrations of crime, * the common use of New York City crime data, and * practical applications of what is known (e.g., a review of mapping and analysis software packages using the same data set). Students, academics, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers in the areas of criminal justice, corrections, geography, social problems, law and government, public administration, and public policy analysis will need to look at the interdisciplinary nature of both GIS and spatial dimensions of crime in order to comprehend the variety of different approaches address important analytic problems, reassess public facilities and resources, and prepare to respond more quickly to emerging hotspots.

"The Steinbergs have produced a very relevant book for the times. . . . While many books have emerged on the details of GIS, few resources exist to help teach the merger of GIS with more standard research methods. The Steinbergs accomplish this goal in a way that is readily accessible even to undergraduates." —Theodore Wagenaar, Miami University "The Steinbergs take the reader through all of the essential foundations of GIS... using examples drawn from the social sciences throughout. This book will be essential reading for any social scientist looking for a straightforward introduction to GIS." —Mike Goodchild, University of California, Santa Barbara Geographic Information Systems for the Social Sciences: Investigating Space and Place is the first book to take a cutting-edge approach to integrating spatial concepts into the social sciences. In this text, authors Steven J. Steinberg and Sheila L. Steinberg simplify GIS (Geographic Information Systems) for practitioners and students in the social sciences through the use of examples and actual program exercises so that they can become comfortable incorporating this research tool into their repertoire and scope of interest. The authors provide learning objectives for each chapter, chapter summaries, links to relevant Web sites, as well as suggestions for student research projects. Key Features: Presents step-by-step guidance for integrating GIS with both quantitative and qualitative research Provides an introduction to the use of GIS technology written at an accessible level for individuals without GIS experience while providing depth and guidance appropriate to experienced GIS users Offers an associated interactive Web site—http://www.socialsciencegis.org—to provide a forum for sharing experience and ideas, input to the authors, and a variety of other examples, data, and information related to the topics covered in the text Geographic Information Systems for the Social Sciences offers a nuts-and-bolts introduction to GIS for undergraduate and graduate students taking methods courses across the social sciences. It is an excellent textbook for courses dedicated to GIS research and its applications in the fields of Sociology, Criminology, Public Health, Geography, Anthropology, Political Science, and Environmental Studies. It is also a valuable resource for any social scientist or practitioner interested in applying GIS technology to his or her work. An Instructor′s Resource CD, containing PowerPoint slides, test questions, and suggested Web site links, among other items, is also available to all professors adopting this text.

A variety of disciplines and professions have embraced geospatial technologies for collecting, storing, manipulating, analyzing and displaying spatial data to investigate crime, prosecute and convict offenders, exonerate suspects and submit evidence in civil lawsuits. The applications, acceptability and relevance and procedural legality of each geospatial technologies vary. The purpose of this book is to explain the nature of geospatial technologies, demonstrate a variety of geospatial applications used to investigate and litigate civil and criminal activities and to provide a reference of current acceptability of geospatial technology in the production of evidence. This book is an introductory overview designed to appeal to researchers and practitioners across disciplinary boundaries. The authors of this book are researchers and practitioners across disciplines and professions, experts in the field.