Developing an iPhone Based Crime Mapping Application to Assist Law Enforcement Officers with Understanding Spatial and Temporal Crime Patterns

The Redlands Police Department (RPD) will develop a program to turn the iPhone into a tool capable of managing spatial and non-spatial data, conducting mobile crime mapping and analysis, and facilitating communication between officers. This will require creating a program that utilizes the enhanced multimedia capabilities of the iPhone to address the intelligence needs of law enforcement officers. This project will be carried out and managed by the RPD and is divided into four phases over two years:
1. The needs assessment phase will evaluate the data and analytic tools needed by RPD officers. This phase will determine the type of data officers need to access and what format provides officers with the most actionable information. Officers will be surveyed, interviewed, and convened for focus groups. This effort will be conducted in concert with the Center for Evidence Based Crime Policy (CEBCP) at George Mason University to ensure that the scientific integrity of the data are maintained and to ensure that officers participate voluntarily.
2. The needs assessment will be used to inform the iPhone software development. The software development will be handled by The Omega Group, an industry leader in providing mapping and analytic capabilities to law enforcement agencies.
3. The software will be installed on iPhones issued to the officers. Officers will be trained on using features of the software.
4. An implementation assessment will be conducted to assess how officers used the device, how their behaviors changed after using the software, and additional features that may be desirable. A randomized cross-over experimental design will be utilized. Officers will be divided into two groups. One group will receive the software for the first five months of the assessment phase and then have the software removed from their devices for the second five months. The second group will not have the software for the first five months and then will receive the software during the second five month period. This randomized cross-over design provides robust evaluation results. Officers will again be surveyed, interviewed, and convened for focus groups. These research efforts will be undertaken with the assistance the CEBCP.

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