This paper will focus on an ArcInfo based Police Beat and District realignment project. The client which was the Montgomery County Police Department in Maryland, a suburb of Washington D.C. has experienced rapid changes in its regional demographics. In order to more efficiently distribute its available law enforcement resources in response to the Community Policing Act, an automated, intelligence based GIS engine was developed to create multiple redistricting recommendation. The system takes into account existing roads, natural barriers and various political features and based on the reported Police workload, develops districting recommendations for Police beats and Districts. The system is based on a redistricting model developed in C and ArcInfo AMLs. The system also interfaces for both input and output to the County's Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system.
To assist the Police Department with its fight against crime, the City of Stockton's GIS Division has developed an analysis and mapping tool using ArcView and Avenue. The Police Department's automated records system is in tabular format and does not lend itself to geographical representation of criminal activity. The ArcView Crime Analysis application is designed to allow investigative officers to map trends and patterns, assists with research on specific investigations and deploy staff to high activity areas. A custom ArcView button menu provides police officers with a powerful tool to build queries based on a criminal's physical characteristics, type of crime, arrest information (charge, time, date, location) and vehicle information (make, model, year, license number.) With the click of a button, geocoded pin maps and project specific tables are automatically displayed on the screen or sent to a printer. The mechanics of map development have been fully automated through ArcView and Avenue script. The easy to use environment of the GIS Crime Analysis application allows police officers to focus their efforts where they are needed most.
Using GIS to aid in identifying crime patterns and series; how to use GIS to aid in deploying department resources; and using GIS to assist in linking possible suspects to crimes.