GIS helps crime analysis in several ways:

1. Visualize crime occurrence

2. Allows law enforcement agencies to understand where crime is occurring

3. Determine spatial patterns of crime

 

Environmental Criminology Theories:

1. Routine Activity Theory (RAT)

   1. Likely offender + suitable target – capable guardian = crime opportunity

   2.  RAT predicts when a crime is most likely to occur. For instance, it can predict that residential homes are burglarized during weekdays in the daytime.

   3. This approach captures the activities of people and highlights the temporal and socio-economic aspects of routine activities.

2. Rational Choice Theory

   1. Gives people some insights into what an offender is thinking when they decide to commit a crime

   2. It argues that offenders are influenced by their daily activities and routines of their lives, therefore, they are concentrated in areas that are known to them.

3. Criminal Pattern Theory

   1. This theory helps people understand where and when the offense will occur.

 

Crime Analysis Applications

1. Intelligence analysis: this approach organizes criminal activity to assist investigation. It links people, event, and property to crime. An example of intelligence analysis is social network analysis.

2. Criminal investigation analysis: this approach studies serial criminals, victims, and/or crime scenes as well as physical, socio-economic, psychological and geographic characteristics to develop patterns that will assist in linking together and solving current serial criminal activities. This approach is also known as profiling.

3. Tactical crime analysis: this approach develops patterns, trends of criminal cases by studying incident of criminal activities and examining how, when, where the activities occur.

4. Strategic crime analysis: this approach integrates crime and law enforcement with socio-economic and spatial factors to determine the long-term pattern of activities.

5. Administrative crime analysis: this approach is centered on legal, political and practical concerns of crime analysis. The analysis aims to inform the audience within law enforcement administration, the city, the government, and the citizens.

​

​