Importance Of Crime Mapping

Crime mapping is a fairly simple concept. The push-pin maps that can be seen in any police show are entering the digital era. Digital crime mapping software improves the police’s ability to respond to situations and analyze crime in leaps and bounds. What before might have taken different sets of eyes can now be done by entering in multiple sets of GPS co-ordinates. Crime mapping can be used to identify patterns in crime, as well as allow officers in the field to simultaneous view the same map, even as it is updated with new information. Imagine that each squad car has this map software installed and there is a search for a bank robber. There is a tip line open, and every single time a tip is confirmed this new location shows up on the map in the squad cars allowing the car closest to the siting to take off immediately. It also gives the rest of the on duty officers a glimpse at the robber’s supposed progress and any one of them might see a pattern emerging allowing them to lay in wait for the robber at his next stop.

Crime mapping is essential if the department wishes to take a proactive approach to policing and identify trouble areas within their jurisdiction. It also skirts the area between intelligence led policing and policing led intelligence as it assists in crime analysis and predictive

Hot spots can be more easily identified, but that does not mean that other areas should be policed. Nor does it mean that the department should rely completely on the data from crime mapping. Crime mapping is only one tool among the many our officers should be equipped with. It is one of the most prevalent and versatile of the tools used though, as it can be used by detectives, beat cops and the ranking officers. The officers themselves are the most important asset to the department, crime mapping simply better equips them to handle what they encounter on a daily