Using a High Definition GIS to Enhance Community Policing on College Campuses

PROJECT SUMMARY FOR 98-IJ-CX-0001
The purpose of this project is to test the use of a High ì
Definition GIS to enhance community policing on college campuses. ì
Project staff will use a high definition, three-dimensional GIS ì
to identify "false hot spots" which would have been identified ì
with only a two-dimensional GIS, and focus attention on true "hot ì
spots," which can only be measured with a three-dimensional ì
model, for example, the eighth floor of a college dormitory. Once ì
the GIS has been completed, Temple University Police, in ì
consultation with student representatives and academic ì
professionals, the project team will identify and change ì
criminogenic situations in the environment and in the second year ì
will measure whether the intervention strategies have altered the ì
spatial pattern of crime. Crime will be measured with data ì
collected from campus police, and a victimization survey ì
conducted at two points in time. Information from the initial ì
victimization survey will be plotted using high definition GIS ì
and hot spots of crime to determine if spatial clustering exists ì
on any of the coverages, and if so, to determine the locations of ì
the clusters. Victimization hot spots will be compared with ì
reported crime hot spots. University police and study leaders ì
will be shown the victimization hot spots and reported crime hot ì
spots and preventive actions will be identified and implemented ì
in consultation between the police, student leaders, and academic ì
professionals. Data from the a second victimization survey ì
similar to the first will be used to determine if victimization ì
patterns have changed from the previous year.