GIS (geographical information systems) can be a useful tool to identify crime problems, and telling people what crime is really happening, to reduce crime and fear of it.
That’s the topic of a two-day conference on September 25 and 26 in Brussels. While there are a number of speakers from North and South America and the Continent, several are from the UK.
Dave Hashdi, Information & Evaluation Manager, at Bolton Metropolitan Council, will describe how Greater Manchester Against Crime (GMAC) is combining police data with that of crime and disorder partners. This data is interrogated by strategic analysts, is then visualised in the form of maps, which can be overlaid on to geographical areas to show vulnerable locations and then can be used to develop appropriate intervention methods.
CADDIE (The Crime and Disorder Data Information Exchange) featured on the websites review page of Professional Security in our July issue. Developed by the emergency services, councils and various organisations in Sussex in 2002, it sought to make information about crime and disorder publicly available over the web. Michelle Partridge, CADDIE Analyst, for Sussex Police, will explain how bodies have shared data to reduce citizens’ fear of crime.
Chairman of day two of the event is Dave Dodge, Met Police Det Chief Inspector, who is leading the force’s GIS User Group. Among the day two speakers are Andy Gill, CompStat Analyst at Transpoort for London, on how TfL and British Transport Police are working on a project to improve the information collected and develop algorithms that will assist with the identification of the key locations for policing on the London Underground.
Broadly speaking, then, geographic and spatial statistics software can map out and spatially analyse crime, for a more complete understanding of crime. For more details email the conference organisers IQPC at [email protected]
