Explaining Geography

“Nationally, the understanding of geography within the context of crime is missing,” said Neil Trainor, a geographical profiler for the National Policing Improvements Agency (NPIA).

“Applying GIS applications, problem profiles can be presented in much more dynamic ways in terms of how to deal with the crimes that analysts are tasked to deal with.”

Talking “all about maps” at a Metropolitan Police GIS awareness day, Mr Trainor said macro and micro mapping can enhance an analysts’ advantage to influence investigations.

“Linking details in statements such as the direction in which an offender approached and vacated a crime scene and if he/she was dressed appropriately for the weather, can all be used to make inferences about why an offence was committed in a particular place and where an offender is likely to reside,” said Mr Trainor.

He demonstrated to the delegates examples of GIS mapping.

The first scenario: a linked series of 20 armed robberies on petrol stations and small shops over a period of three months.

“By overlaying information with the geography of the land, patterns of offender behaviour can be seen that can direct police recourses to the best line of attack,” he said.  

A geographical profiler was tasked with identifying where a search should be conducted to locate the offender/s responsible for the series of robberies.

“To determine a likely location, analysis is carried out taking into account the time of day the offences took place, the locations of the incidents and movements of the offenders as identified by witnesses,” said Mr Trainor.

Resources are then posted into a peak area of the geographic profile for surveillance purposes at the relevant times. This resulted in the arrests of the armed robbers.

“The peak area varies between cases,” said Mr Trainor. “Other series of crimes are not suited to the geographical software but a study of the land can still yield positive results.”

In another example, Mr Trainor outlined a series of five sexual assaults that were carried out within a distinct geographical location, along an area divided by high and low ground.

“The geography of the area dictated to investigators why victims were being targeted in certain locations and also where to target DNA sampling checks to identify the perpetrator of the attacks,” he said.

“As a result, the offender was identified soon after DNA checks began.”

Mr Trainor urges all analysts to visit crime scenes to study the geographical areas related to their work. “It can help inform them of an offender’s behaviour, which they can’t necessarily do at their desks,” he said.

Mr Trainor’s feeling that forces could better exploit GIS tools was echoed by Simon Cottingham, a consultant for ESRI, the UK company that offers GIS software and technology.

“There are no applications for mapping the recent floods in South Yorkshire,” said Mr Trainor.

“Based on census information, an officer will need to know how many people are in the area, how many young and vulnerable elderly people are at risk and how many individuals need to be evacuated and at what time,” he said.

Contingency plans for flooding in Sheffield were in place but the response, as we have seen, did not match the plans. “GIS mapping can adapt contingency plans from being wall mounted paper charts to instantly assessable emergency strategies,” said Mr Trainor.

“Geographical data and overlaid information would allow us to see, in a three-dimensional fashion, who is at risk. It would allow us to map the flooding and estimate who will be at risk as water levels rise, foresee affected areas and allow officers to know when to close major roads.”

ESRI provide a corporate platform to the Met, working with them to provide a gazetteer service to work with national level land and property data.

It allows the user to key in an address and instantly link intelligence to a geographically coded loca