Point Maps
The most common approach for displaying geographic patterns of crime and disorder
is by point mapping. This method is popular because it is a simple digital version
of carrying out a familiar and traditional method of placing pins representing crime
or disorder events onto a wall map.
However, there are a number of difficulties in trying to interpret geographic patterns
and hotspots from crime point data. These difficulties include,
where there is a large volume of data it is difficult to take on board all
the visual information and interpret patterns. This applies to the exact location
of the hotspot, plus its size and shape.
at certain locations on the map, what appears to be a single crime point may
be more than one crime point. This is where crime data has been geocoded to exactly
the same location.
These problems lead to different people interpreting different information (i.e
the location of hotspots) from this type of mapping output. These types of maps are
also not the most visually invoking examples of hotspot maps, deterring discussion
that helps to investigate and understand the nature of crime and disorder in these
areas.
Point maps do have their application. This type of mapping output is best used
for,
The map below shows the 9314 events of vehicle
crime. Because of the large volume of points shown on this map it is
difficult to confidently identify the locations of vehicle crime hotspots.
Preliminary global tests revealed that clusters of vehicle crime
are evident, but that these hotspots are more dispersed than any of other
tested crime types.
Click here for an enlarged version of the map
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