Data Privacy Cybersecurity Paralegal

Geographic Information System mapping is used to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage geographical data. In the case of Crime analysis, Geographic Information System mapping (also known as the acronym GIS) is used by Crime Analyst in Law Enforcement Agencies to create a visual of crime incident patterns. This method is a very important component within crime analysis. Mapping a crime via GIS provides a Crime Analyst with the ability to identify what is referred to as the crime hot spots as well as other elements and/or patterns in a criminal case. My crime of choice to showcase this article and the use of Crime Analysis and GIS mapping technology is a serial killer scenario.  What exactly is a serial killer? A serial killer is a person who murders three or more people for self-gratification. The murders committed by the serial killer usually takes place for a month or more with a certain period of time between each murder.  Most serial killers’ motives for committing the murders is self-gratification, however most of the serial murders typically include sexual contact with the victim. The characteristics of the serial killers include rage, thrill seeking, financial motive, and attention seeking fame and recognition for their heinous act. Crime Analyst utilize the GIS technology to approach a serial case by studying the crime scene photos, review all evidence, police reports, and witness statements if possible. The Crime Analyst must also research the crime database to see if there are similar cases that have not been resolved but have the same characteristics of how the victims were murdered and where those murders took place. This step is used to establish a pattern and look for victim common denominators. Also, the Crime Analyst must review all facts about the victims and compare these facts to other murders that have been committed possibly by the same killer and look for a commonality between their current victim and the other victim murder cases located within the crime database and/or provided by other law enforcement agencies. A demographic profile would be created based on the victim’s appearance, gender, race, and/or sexual orientation. In addition, serial killers mark their territories subconsciously when committing a crime. After several acts of murder have been committed, this would create a geographical pattern. The geographical pattern are the cues utilized as a clue as to where the serial killer might located. At this point, utilization of an intelligence gathering application such as Compstat tool is recommended. This tool is used for statistics and gathering of intelligence information that can be deployed very quickly to law enforcement officers that are out in the field. This program also has the ability to map crimes and pinpoint where and when an active crime is happening. Crime mapping is an effective tool in combating crime due to the geographical advantages, as well as the ability to locate both offender and victim and prevent future crime. Crime mapping also makes it a lot easier for officers to respond to emergency calls, collect information at crime scenes, share information, analyze, generate intelligence information, and the ability to deploy patrol officers to the scene of a crime. Crime maps also reduce the workload for the police officers as well as supports strategies for tactical operations focused on a specific case. 

References
Compstat Policing: Definition, Process & Model. (n.d.). Retrieved January 19, 2019, from Study.com website: https://study.com/academy/lesson/compstat-policing-definition-process-model.html

WHAT IS GEOSPATIAL CRIME MAPPING? (2015, October 20). Retrieved January 19, 2019, from Crime Tech Weekly website: https://crimetechweekly.com/2015/10/20/what-is-geospatial-crime-mapping/

Ferreira, J., João, P., & Martins, J. (2012). GIS for crime analysis: Geography for predictive models. Electronic Journal of Information Systems Evaluation, 15(1), 36-49. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy2.apus.edu/docview/1017885788?accountid=8289