Image Processing Reference
In-Depth Information
chapter (refer to the substantial literature on crime mapping and the aforementioned
references for guidance).
The earliest applications of computerized crime mapping appeared in the mid-
1960s (Pauly et al.
1967
). Among the most remarkable research emphasizing crime
mapping was Frisbie el al.'s Crime in Minneapolis: Proposals for Prevention
(
1977
), which attempted to bridge the gap between the academic crime mapping
and analysis/applications specifically aimed at crime prevention. In this regard,
Frisbie et al.'s publication represented the first work that recognized computerized
visualization of crime data as a management tool.
GIS applications in policing took off in the late 1980s and early 1990s as desktop
computing and applications software became more accessible. Foresman (
1998
)
recognized five stages of GIS development, including: (1) the Pioneer Age, which
lasted from the mid-1950s to the early 1970s and was characterized by some primi-
tive hardware and software, (2) the Research and Development Age, which lasted
into the 1980s and overlapped (3) the Implementation and Vendor Age, which
lasted into the 1990s, when (4) the Client Applications Age began, which was
followed by (5) the Local and Global Network Age.
Major advances in crime mapping have occurred during the last 15 years (Fisher
and Winograd
1999
). Although a Crime Mapping Research Center (CMRC), cur-
rently known as Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety (MAPS), was established
at the U.S. National Institute of Justice (NIJ) in 1997, only 13% of the U.S. police
departments were using computerized crime mapping in 1997-1998 (Mamalian and
La Vigne
1999
). Obviously, these were the large urban departments since higher
population density means higher potential for crime in a given area. However, the
number of police agencies with crime mapping capabilities has grown rapidly, most
notably in countries like the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia and South Africa where
the technological infrastructures and developments of GIS are more advanced.
Nevertheless, geospatial technologies are becoming more and more integrative tools
in crime mapping applications in many developing countries. The e-government
initiative in Dubai and the whole United Arab Emirates (UAE) is an obvious example.
As these initiatives and technologies gather momentum, GIS applications are used
in the identification of geographically dependent citizen services. Additionally, the
growing knowledge-base economy has accelerated the implementation of GIS pro-
grams, which offer managers, politicians and the general public views of dense
fields of data that could previously be presented only on paper.
Contemporary trends in crime mapping call for an increased integration of data
and technologies in order to extract as much value as possible. One possibility to
do this would be the combined and integrated use of GIS, global positioning systems
(GPS), and management information systems (MIS). Such integration would allow
close to real-time crime mapping, because the geo-coding step would be automated
(Sorensen
1997
). Moreover, GPS offers the possibility of accurately reporting places
using real-world coordinates, making the application of crime mapping less depen-
dent on the collection and verification of street addresses. GPS, in its more advanced
modes, can provide accuracy to one centimeter and thus pinpoint locations such as
the precise spot of an auto theft in a parking lot (Harries
1999
).
