Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS)

See also ‘Intelligence and Information Sharing’ Toolkit and ‘Focus Areas’ Toolkit.

The use of GIS has become increasingly influential in the development of crime pattern analysis. It has an obvious advantage in illustrating the distribution of crime incidents and rates to expose spatial clusters.

Many local authorities and police services have used GIS analysis for some time and may have personnel who can provide help. For instance, Warwickshire County Council employs a GIS crime and disorder analyst who is works closely with the police in the audit development. http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/

GIS is also used in related fields for example, Risk Assessment Toolkits have been developed by the Home Office for Fire and Rescue Services using GIS as an integral analysis tool http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/fepd/frn/risk1.pdf

Two major companies dominate the field of GIS software and provide information for a number of applications on their websites. They are:-ERSI (who produce ArcView and ArcInfo) http://www.esri.com/industries/lawenforce/lawenforce.html and MapInfo http://www.mapinfo.com.