Volume 1 Issue 1 | February 2008

Public Safety

Geography

A Quarterly Bulletin of Applied Geography for the Study of Crime & Public Safety

With widespread use of desktop Geographic Information Systems (GIS) since the mid-1990s, crime analysts have been using geographic principles 

to understand law enforcement and public safety issues. During the last decade 

crime mapping has expanded from tracking criminal activity on maps with dots or 

pushpins to using advanced spatial statistics to understand and analyze crime. In 

the coming years, crime analysts will be able to use applied geography to assess why 

crime occurs where it does and the characteristics of high-crime environments. 

This publication was developed to assess the many ways crime mapping can be used 

to advance public safety. Ideas for this publication were drawn from two books—

Mapping the Next Millennium: How Computer Drive Cartography Is Revolutionizing 

the Face of Science1 by Stephen S. Hall, and Rediscovering Geography: New Relevance for 

Science and Society2 by the National Geographic Council’s Rediscovering Geography 

Committee. 

What Is Applied Geography for the 

Study of Crime and Public Safety?

Ron Wilson 

Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety Program & Data Resources 

National Institute of Justice

Kurt Smith

Redlands (California) Police Department

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) and the National 

Institute of Justice (NIJ) are excited to bring to you the premier issue of 

Geography and Public Safety, a quartely newsletter that examines four substantive 

areas. “Practice” examines practices related to crime mapping and problem 

analysis; “Policy” describes policy related to the use of mapping to better 

understand crime; “Technical Tips” aids practioners in completing specific spatial 

analysis tasks. “News Briefs” and a list of upcoming geography events, such as 

conferences and training opportunities, complete the newsletter. This newsletter 

will be useful for police practitioners at all levels who are interested in geography 

and its relationship to crime, as well as for researchers, policy makers, and others 

interested in understanding the impact of geography on public safety. 

Contents

1 Applied Geography for the Study 

of Crime and Public Safety

4 Targeting Crime in Hot Spots 

and Hot Places

8 Using ModelBuilder for 

Geographic Information System 

Tasks

11 Highlight: California University of 

Pennsylvania’s Crime Mapping 

Center Helps Police and Students

12 News Briefs

14 Crime News Events 2008

Carl R. Peed, Director

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

U.S. Department of Justice

David W. Hagy,

Acting Principal Deputy Director

National Institute of Justice
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G&PS | February 2008

Mapping the Next Millennium looked at the 

impact of digital cartography on common 

geographical analysis and on mapping a wide 

variety of spatial patterns. Hall calls this a 

“renaissance” of geographical thinking:

Here, we are poised to enter the next 

millennium, and we find ourselves in 

the midst of what is arguably the greatest 

explosion in mapping, and perhaps the greatest 

reconsideration of “space”... (p. 6)

Hall refers to the way in which computerized 

mapping has had an impact on understanding 

crime and public safety problems. Today, 

mapping is a common procedure for many 

police departments, emergency management 

agencies, and homeland security organizations.

Where Hall described the “explosive” growth 

of new mapping technology, Rediscovering 

Geography describes the resurgence of geography 

as an aid in solving society’s problems. An early 

chapter provides an accurate description of why 

geography is needed when studying crime and 

public safety:

Geographers focus on “real world” 

relationships and dependencies among 

the phenomena and processes that give 

character and location to any location or 

place. Geographers also seek to understand 

relationships among places: for example, 

flows of people, goods and ideas that reinforce 

differentiation and enhance similarities.

(p. 10)

No place is unaffected by neighboring 

places. The book’s authors suggest that by 

understanding the way that one geographic 

place affects surrounding places, a person can 

understand why events happen in that place 

and how they happen. When translated to 

the field of crime mapping, for example, if 

an analyst knows that a poor, overcrowded 

neighborhood is located near a wealthy 

neighborhood, he might predict that robberies 

would occur most frequently on the border 

between the two neighborhoods. 

Together, the two books show that a 

combination of geographic technologies, 

theories, and principles has helped create 

effective applied science. During the past decade, 

such technology has helped research and practice 

converge, helping officers analyze complex 

crime and public safety problems with a full 

complement of tools—including those used for 

data capture, visualization, analysis, modeling, 

and problem solving. Geographic principles 

connect social theories with observations by 

using geographic data to make decisions about 

policing practices and to influence public safety 

outcomes.

Using Software for Crime Mapping 

In the 1980s, geographic analysis principles 

were operationalized into software for use in 

analysis. This software enabled researchers to 

test the theories propounded in earlier decades. 

Public safety problems and policies can now be 

explored with software programs that map and 

analyze the spatial aspects of crime and public 

safety data. 

The most notable software used for crime 

mapping is Geographic Information System 

(GIS) software. This software helps researchers 

visualize data, assess human behavior over 

geographic space, follow spatial patterns, 

validate theories, and examine how geography 

affects crime and public safety. With widespread 

GIS software availability, crime mapping has 

become a common practice for studying the 

spatial aspects of crime and making decisions 

about how best to use law enforcement and 

public safety resources. 

Using Applied Geography to 

Understand Crime and Public Safety

In addition to mapping crime with computer 

software, crime analysts combine applied 

geography, a type of research that uses 

geographic principles to solve problems, with 

criminology theories, often examining a range 

of issues about society and the environmental 

factors that contribute to crime. 

Applied geography informs police chiefs and 

other decision-makers about the physical 

environments in their jurisdiction, using data 

from two primary sources. The first is incident 

data, which include data from calls for service, 

incidents, or arrests. The second is base data, 

or data that contain information about the 

physical, demographic, and economic makeup 

of the jurisdiction. Base data include street 

information, building footprints, land use data, 

and census data. The combination of applied 

geography, crime theory, and crime mapping 

help crime analysts turn a working theory into 

a real-time solution. 
3

Putting Theory into Practice

The foundations of crime mapping came 

from environmental criminology, the study 

of how crime and victimization relate to 

geographic places and the individuals and 

organizations that occupy those places. 

They include a variety of theories, such 

as defensible space, situational crime 

prevention, routine activity theory, analysis 

of crime patterns, and social disorganization 

theory. These theories have been used as a 

basis for inquiry in the field since the 1950s, 

but until recently had not been tested. 

Problem-oriented policing puts the results 

of crime mapping, applied geography, and 

theoretical analysis into practice in the field. 

In addition to helping investigate individual 

crimes, this work has supported law 

enforcement in field and special operations, 

staffing and deployment decisions, and 

event planning. Crime and public safety 

analysts have begun to use crime data to 

answer questions about budgets, community 

development and redevelopment inquiries, 

environmental impact reports, traffic 

engineering considerations, and more. 

These practitioners must examine empirical 

research in their analysis to respond to 

crime and other law enforcement challenges 

proactively. Although GIS system and 

spatial analysis data address the underlying 

elements that lead to crime and disorder, 

without external empirical research, crime 

analysts can only decide how to respond 

to an immediate situation and will have 

less success implementing a long-term 

plan for patrolling and intervention. For 

instance, analysts may observe a hot spot 

on a city map and send patrols to resolve 

the situation; however, studying empirical 

research would help them decide how to 

patrol the area over the next year, assess 

what factors were causing crime in the area, 

and devise a way to intervene. Analysts 

who recap crime counts and map locations 

without applying the lessons of research are 

acting only as “crime summarists.”

Creating Policy to Prevent Crime

Once research and technology have been 

combined to produce a working practice, 

law enforcement may be interested 

in proposing policy solutions to city 

officials, and operational decisions about 

crime and public safety problems. Policy 

implementation has six outcomes, the first 

two of which rarely occur:

Nothing happens.

The problem completely vanishes. 

The problem diminishes.

The problem disperses.

The problem intensifies.

The problem is replaced by another 

problem.

The last possibility can occur following any 

of the other outcomes. Often, one problem 

is replaced with another because of open 

opportunities to move into a geographic 

area or because a conflict occurs and the 

more pervasive problem begins to dominate. 

GIS and spatial analysis software can help 

visualize and analyze trends that result 

from new policies. When analysts and 

policymakers understand where problems 

are, they can create focused solutions to 

resolve them, or follow them if they change. 

Putting It All Together 

To support practical decision-making, 

applied geography uses theories and 

techniques that describe where crime or other 

public safety problems occur and why they 

occur in those places. Crime analysts can 

use theories and research to make real-time 

decisions for practice. They integrate the 

spatial and geographic aspects of criminology 

into police planning, problem solving, and 

catching particular offenders, bringing the 

researchers and practitioners together. 

Intention for This Newsletter 

As a community, we should commit 

to delivering high-quality geographical 

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

research and practice. This will improve 

the effectiveness of police departments and 

other public safety agencies that use these 

applied techniques and strategies to develop 

better policies.

This publication hopes to provide a resource 

for applying geographic principles to law 

enforcement problems and public safety 

issues. Crime-related topics may include 

geographic profiling, resource deployment, 

urban geography. Other topics may 

include motor vehicle crashes, parolee 

and probationer tracking, and evacuation 

planning. We will also highlight important 

events for practitioners and policymakers, 

discuss work being conducted through the 

National Institute of Justice’s Mapping and 

Analysis for Public Safety (MAPS) program, 

and review books and other materials.

Informative discussion on a variety of topics 

will demonstrate that better policy decisions 

can come from these forms of analysis. 

Technology articles will illustrate how 

applying geographic principles to spatial 

analysis can be used to solve problems. 

Other articles will discuss how policy 

results from practical decisions, such as 

where to deploy resources or how to change 

agencywide practices. 

We hope that this publication will enable 

readers to apply geographic principles in 

their practices and encourage further crime 

research. Future issues will entertain ideas 

from the field—please send topic ideas to 

Ronald.Wilson@usdoj.gov. 

Notes

1. Hall, Stephen S., Mapping the Next Millennium: 

How Computer Driven Cartography Is Revolutionizing 

the Face of Science. New York, New York: Vintage, 

1993.

2. National Research Council Rediscovering Geography 

Committee, Rediscovering Geography: New Relevance 

for Science and Society, Washington, D.C.: National 

Academies Press, 1997.

GPS Technology: Mapping in the Future

Around 10 years ago, law enforcement officers began to leverage new desktop GIS 

software and automated dispatch and records data to support crime intervention and 

suppression strategies. Today, the widespread availability of global positional system 

(GPS)-equipped devices and the spatial data sets they can produce have set the stage for 

another fundamental change. These technologies will help analysts evaluate long-standing 

questions about where offenders spend their time and how officers patrol areas. 
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G&PS | February 2008

Crime has a tendency to concentrate in specific problem areas, known as “hot 

spots,” rather than spreading out evenly 

across space. Crime can be extremely 

localized and varies widely from address 

to address. Hot spots are areas with a 

greater than average number of criminal or 

disorder events or higher than average risk of 

victimization. 

Crime theories and practical studies support 

the idea that focusing police efforts at crime 

hot spots can effectively reduce crime. Efforts 

may include directed patrols1 or problem 

solving for individual hot spots. Situational 

crime prevention measures that address 

criminogenic characteristics (e.g., vacant lots, 

bad lighting) of a place may result in longer 

lasting effects. Additionally, research has 

shown that hot spot policing may improve 

crime reduction beyond the boundaries of 

the hot spots. 

Crime analysts in police departments work 

with crime incident data to find and analyze 

hot spots and provide information to crime 

and justice professionals. They often work 

with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) 

software to create crime maps to visualize 

data and identify patterns and hot spots. 

GIS and related mapping and analysis tools 

have been advancing to include sophisticated 

statistics software that allows rigorous 

analysis of crime hot spots and testing against 

Targeting Crime in Hot Spots and Hot Places

Figure 1. This is a hot spot map for robberies during 2007 in Washington, D.C. The Adams MorganColumbia Heights area, U Street/Shaw, and Chinatown have experienced gentrification in recent 

years, with homicide rates going down. Robberies remain a problem in specific locations. The 

hot spot map identifies places and street segments that help the police deploy resources and 

resolve crime problems in these places.

Katie Filbert

National Institute of Justice (Contractor)
5

random patterns and variation. In addition 

to statistical analysis, researchers use 

spatial analysis to devise problem-solving 

approaches and reduce crime and disorder.

Theories for Countering Crime 

in Small Places or Individual 

Residences 

The term “places” describes small areas—

such as residences, bars, or restaurants—

that are known spots of criminal activity. 

When assessing hot places and creating a 

crime intervention strategy, researchers ask 

questions about crime, police response, and 

analysis techniques. 

For instance, a researcher may ask, “Which 

bars experience frequent assaults and which 

do not?” Once they have identified these hot 

places, analysts use crime theories to assess 

and respond to the problem.

Routine activity theory. Routine activity 

theory helps explain why crime is often 

concentrated at certain places. This theory 

suggests that an establishment’s management 

affects the behavior of its patrons. For instance, 

a bar with frequent assaults may employ staff 

who do not regulate the behavior of patrons to 

minimize the chances of an assault.

Behavior regulation has three effects. It 

directly prevents criminal activity through 

early intervention (e.g., controlling the 

number of drinks a patron can consume), 

it attracts customers who desire a wellregulated location over a weakly regulated 

place (and are less likely to create problems), 

and it repels customers who desire a weakly 

regulated location over a well-regulated place. 

Police response. Police response to a 

problem varies depending on the scale of 

the problem. Offenders may be attracted to 

places where people congregate (e.g., bars, 

bus stops, parks). These places present crime 

opportunities and have a large number of 

potential victims with minimal levels of 

social control. 

Situational crime prevention measures (e.g., 

improving lighting in a high-crime area) 

or other specific responses (e.g., working 

with agencies that regulate liquor licensing 

to issue sanctions) may help reduce crime 

at a hot spot or hot place. Increased police 

presence can also help guard these places 

and reduce opportunity for crime. Several 

patrols could come to a crime hot spot in 

succession, each remaining for 10 or 15 

minutes. 

Theories for Countering Crime 

in Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods are often too large for 

concentrated patrols. Researchers have 

identified a number of theories that may 

explain and help control neighborhood 

violence.

Landmark discoveries. In Social Factors 

in Juvenile Delinquency (1931), Shaw and 

McKay observed persistent concentrations 

of deviancy in the 1920s. They suggested 

that some neighborhoods had high levels 

of juvenile delinquency year in and year 

out, decade after decade, regardless of who 

lived in the areas. Since that time, many 

explanations for differences in neighborhood 

crime levels have surfaced. Most of these 

theories focus on local residents’ ability to 

control deviancy.

Social disorganization theory. This 

theory suggests that people’s natural ability 

to control deviancy in their neighborhoods 

is impaired in some areas by constant 

residential turnover and the number of 

residents who leave the neighborhood. 

These changes disrupt social networks or 

prevent them from forming. Since these 

networks are responsible for most social 

control in neighborhoods, their absence 

leads to higher levels of deviancy. Other 

factors, such as poverty and racism, also 

have been identified as undermining social 

networks.

Social efficacy. Social efficacy is a 

characteristic of groups of people, or “the 

willingness of local residents to intervene for 

the common good” (Sampson, Raudenbush, 

and Earls, 1997). Social efficacy may help 

prevent crime—neighborhoods that have 

high social efficacy have less crime and 

disorder. 

Broken windows theory. The broken 

windows theory claims that in most 

well-functioning neighborhoods, small 

transgressions of social norms (e.g., failure 

to keep one’s yard tidy) result in social 

pressures to bring the offending party 

into compliance. Once a place becomes 

untended, it undermines the willingness 

and ability of residents to enforce social 

order. Consequently, further deviancy 

occurs, residents experience withdrawal and 

fear, and the neighborhood begins to spiral 

downward. 

Crime opportunity theories. Routine 

activity theory and related theories point 

to crime opportunities as the principal 

cause of crime. Rather than concentrations 

of offenders or the absence of social 

controls, opportunity theories suggest that 

analysts should look for concentrations of 

crime targets. For example, a dense urban 

neighborhood with no off-street parking 

will have many cars parked on the street 

and may become an area hot spot for thefts 

from vehicles. 

Another example might involve a 

suburban subdivision with dual-income 

families that have few people at home 

What are “Hot Spots” and “Hot Places”?

A neighborhood or cluster of blocks may be a crime hot spot. However, places (e.g., a bar, 

liquor store, bus stop, or park), street segments, or stretches of road may also be considered 

hot spots. Because of their small geographic size, these spots are usually referred to as hot 

places. Crime hot spots and places can be very different in size, and the techniques used for 

mapping and analyzing them will vary depending on their geographic level.

What other factors make an area hot? 

Crime may occur more frequently at “hot” 

times of the day and week. For example, 

assaults most frequently occur between 3:00 

and 7:00 a.m., where as residential burglaries 

are more likely to occur during daytime hours 

on weekdays. 
66

G&PS | February 2008

during weekdays. Since the property is 

unprotected, their neighborhood can 

become an area burglary hot spot. In this 

situation, several layers of hot spots can exist 

simultaneously. Some streets in the suburban 

neighborhood may have greater numbers of 

burglaries, and some of the homes on these 

streets may be broken into multiple times. 

Identifying and Analyzing 

Hot Spots 

Identifying Hot Spots

A number of approaches can help identify crime 

hot spots. These include creating density maps and 

using spatial statistics. 

Analysts may want to use crime incident data 

and call-for-service data in hot spot analysis. 

Call-for-service data capture reports of 

disturbances and other forms of disorder that 

are not collected in crime incident data. 

Identifying incidents on multiple 

geographic levels. Some hot spots may cluster 

in small areas, such as street segments, street 

corners, and other such places. These could 

include a small entertainment district or strip of 

bars that has a high number of assault incidents 

clustered there. For identifying these types 

of hot places, point mapping is also needed. 

For incidents in a particular neighborhood or 

cluster of blocks, analysts may wish to map 

with graduated color (i.e., choropleth) maps 

and density maps. 

Creating Density Maps

Kernel density maps show crime rates as 

they vary continuously across space without 

boundaries. Analysts use these maps to identify 

crime hot spots. Areas with high concentrations 

of crime stand out on density maps. 

GIS packages with raster (i.e., grid) mapping 

capabilities, such as ArcView Spatial Analyst,2

can be used to create density maps. CrimeStat,3

a free software program for analysis of incident, 

or “point,” data, also has kernel density analysis 

capabilities.

Density maps are created when an analyst 

takes a point map of crime incidents (or calls 

for service) and places an arbitrary grid on the 

map. Each grid cell is then assigned a score 

based on the number of incidents (points) in 

each cell. The score also takes into account the 

number of points in nearby cells or within a 

search radius determined by the analyst. A high 

score indicates a high incidence of crime in a 

particular area.

The result of this mapping technique is a grid 

map. The color of each grid cell varies based 

on the cell’s score. Cells with high numbers of 

points may be shaded bright red, to indicate 

high crime rates while areas with lower levels of 

crime may be shaded cooler colors. 

Using Statistical Tests to Find 

Hot Spots

When analysts want to create and examine 

a crime map, they must make a judgment 

call about the size of the geographical area 

portrayed on the map. Once analysts have 

created a map, spatial data analysis software 

can be used to apply statistical tests that help 

identify areas with high levels of crime and 

analyze crime data. Statistical tests can help 

find where crime is clustered in certain places 

or areas on the map compared with crime that 

occurs randomly. 

Figure 2. This map shows hot spots at 

the scale of specific places or streets in 

Washington, D.C. There is a higher rate of 

robberies around the Metro station entrance, 

as well as a more intense hot spot two 

blocks north. Once the hot spot has been 

identified, an analyst can look at specific 

incident reports. Most of the robberies in 

the hot spot involved victims who were 

using the ATM, often in the evening or later 

at night. As a result of the analysis, the 

bank has since limited the ATM hours to the 

daytime. 
7

Software for hot spot analysis. Two 

software packages that can be used for hot 

spot analysis are CrimeStat and GeoDa.4

Both software packages are free and can be 

downloaded online. 

CrimeStat is used to analyze crime incidents 

or other types of point patterns. CrimeStat 

uses point data on a map to produce 

statistics that indicate clustering, or to what 

extent crimes cluster in specific areas. A 

number of statistical tests can provide a 

single statistic, or number, which describes 

how much clustering occurs across the 

map. Statistical tests available in CrimeStat 

include the Nearest Neighbor Index (NNI), 

Moran’s I, and Geary’s C statistic. 

CrimeStat and GeoDa use another type of 

statistics to compare and analyze clustering 

in more localized parts of a map, for 

example, finding several adjacent clusters 

of high or low rates of crime, or finding an 

area with low crime rates that is adjacent 

to several crime hot spots. These statistics 

are called Local Indicators of Spatial 

Autocorrelation (LISA) statistics. Analysts 

can also create LISA maps to show where 

clustering is occurring. 

More information on density mapping and 

spatial statistical approaches for identifying 

and analyzing crime hot spots is available 

in a 2005 publication from the National 

Institute of Justice entitled Mapping Crime: 

Understanding Hot Spots. Information 

on using CrimeStat, links to the GeoDa 

web site, and information on training 

opportunities can be found at www.ojp.

usdoj.gov/nij/maps.

Conclusion

Spatial data analysis software has advanced 

in recent years, giving researchers the 

ability to perform a more sophisticated 

analysis of crime hot spots. Being able to 

identify these hot spots and hot places, and 

direct policing efforts and crime prevention 

measures to them, has become a promising 

way to reduce crime. 

Effective crime reduction, however, also 

requires law enforcement agencies to 

hire crime analysts. Analysts should be 

encouraged to learn more advanced analysis 

techniques to better identify crime hot spots 

and to understand the underlying factors 

that influence hot spot patterns.

References

Eck, J.E., S. Chainey, J.G. Cameron, M. Leitner, 

and R.E. Wilson. Mapping Crime: Understanding 

Hot Spots. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of 

Justice, National Institute of Justice, 2005. NCJ 

209393.

Sampson, R.J., S.W. Raudenbush, and F. Earls. 

“Neighborhoods and Violent Crime: A Multilevel 

Study of Collective Efficacy,” Science, 227(1997): 

918–924.

Shaw, C.R., and H.D. McKay. Social Factors in 

Juvenile Delinquency, Vol. 2, No. 13. Washington, 

D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1931.

Notes

1. Directed patrols are police units that respond to 

incidents or places that need special attention.

2. ArcView Spatial Analyst can be found online at 

www.esri.com/software/arcview.

3. CrimeStat was developed by Ned Levine and 

Associates, through a grant from the National 

Institute of Justice. CrimeStat can be found 

online at www.icpsr.umich.edu/NACJD/

crimestat.html. 

4. GeoDa was developed by Luc Anselin and other 

researchers at the Spatial Analysis Laboratory 

(SAL) at University of Illinois, UrbanaChampaign. GeoDa can be found online at 

www.geoda.uiuc.edu.

Data sources:

Map data comes from the D.C. GIS, which is run by the District of Columbia Government’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer 

(OCTO). http://dcatlas.dcgis.dc.gov

Crime incident data comes from the Citywide Data Warehouse program of the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) 

and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). http://data.octo.dc.gov/Metadata.aspx?id=3

Disclaimers:

“The data made available here have been modified for use from the original source, which is the Government of the District of 

Columbia. Neither the District of Columbia Government nor the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) makes any claims as 

to the completeness, accuracy, or content of any data contained in this application; makes any representation of any kind, including, 

but not limited to, warranty of the accuracy, or fitness for a particular use; nor are any such warranties to be implied or inferred with 

respect to the information or data furnished herein. The data are subject to change as modifications and updates are complete. It is 

understood that the information contained in the dataset is being used at one’s own risk.”
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G&PS | February 2008

Crime analysis requires a Geographic Information System (GIS)—a software 

program for capturing, managing, and 

analyzing geographic and spatial data—to 

process data and create data products (e.g., 

printed maps, pamphlets) for a wide audience. 

Crime data can change daily, which makes 

producing maps and other products a daunting 

task for many analysts. Automating regular 

tasks will save time and allow for more 

sophisticated tools for analysis. 

Crime analysts need a mapping program that 

allows them to regularly update data in a timely 

fashion. Environmental Systems Research 

Institute’s (ESRI) ModelBuilder is a component 

of a type of GIS software called ArcMap1

that allows for drag-and-drop development 

of complex geoprocessing tasks (e.g., placing 

points on the map based on addresses, 

summarizing data). It helps crime analysts 

expedite their daily geoprocessing tasks for map 

production.

Advancing Earlier Modeling Tools

ESRI’s ModelBuilder is a drag-and-drop 

process modeling environment that 

comes standard with ArcMap version 9.x. 

ModelBuilder is an advancement of ArcView 

3.x’s Geoprocessing Wizard Extension. 

Where the Geoprocessing Wizard was limited 

to tasks like spatially joining, merging, 

and clipping data, ESRI introduces all of 

ArcMap’s functional capabilities (e.g., spatial 

analysis, geoprocessing) into the Toolbox. 

A large number of different tools and tasks 

can be strung together in the literal sense of 

a systems technology: data go in, a process 

occurs, and data come out. The potential to 

string complex tasks together and automate 

them to run regularly makes ModelBuilder an 

attractive option for any Crime Analysis Unit.

Introducing the User Interface

Getting started.

Press the menu button to open ArcToolbox 

as a window in ArcMap. This window is similar 

to the Table of Contents window.

Toolboxes can be expanded by clicking the 

[+] sign to the left of the toolbox symbol.

Toolboxes are arranged by task subdivision 

(e.g., Geoprocessing), and by extension (e.g., 

Spatial Analyst). This arrangement allows 

users to expand levels of tools within this 

arrangement, and create customized toolboxes 

to contain frequently used tools. 

Note that some toolboxes require users to 

license extensions. Check license availability 

with the Desktop License Manager, which can 

be found under the ArcGIS install directory.

Finding and using tools.

The “Index” and “Search” tabs at the 

bottom of ArcToolbox help analysts locate 

tools. The “Index” tab lists tools by title, 

and the “Search” tab will find any word 

within the tool’s title and description. 

Double-click tools to use them. 

When a tool is being used, a window 

interface will request input and output data 

locations2 as well as parameters available 

for each tool. Input data can include raw 

data, layer files, and selections from the 

ArcMap project. Output data can be saved to 

shapefiles or feature classes in a geodatabase. 

To create a new toolbox, right-click at the 

top of the tool tree and select “new toolbox.” 

This toolbox stores models, scripts, and tools 

within one “.tbx” file. 













Using ModelBuilder for Geographic 

Information System Tasks

Philip Mielke

Redlands (California) Police Department

TECHINCAL TIPS
9

Initially, the new toolbox will be placed 

in the “Documents and Settings” folder 

in the application data. Accessing 

or transferring these “.tbx” files is 

impossible without system administrator 

rights. However, a new feature to 

ArcMap version 9.2 lets a user create and 

store toolboxes in geodatabases. 

Name the new toolbox with a clear 

description and title. 

Create a new model by right-clicking 

on the new toolbox and selecting “New 

Model.”

Right-click and select “edit” to view the 

blank ModelBuilder stage.

Drag tools from existing toolboxes 

onto the model window. Tools that are 

dragged onto the window will require 

blank input and output data locations. 

Double-clicking the tool within 

a model will bring up that tool’s 

interface window. Users can establish 

data paths here. 

The following section describes two ways to 

use ModelBuilder for crime analysis. 

How to Geocode Data with 

a Composite 1.0 Geocoding 

Service

Crime data are constantly in a state of flux. 

Analysts must geocode data regularly to be 

able to work with timely data. As counties 

and cities grow more sophisticated in their 

use of GIS, using multiple mapping layers 

can ensure that the addresses given in a 

records system will help analysts find the 

most accurate location on the map. This 

example uses two layers, a street file and 

a geofile,3 to order the automatic location 

selection process inherent in a composite 

address locator.4 

Before beginning the geocoding process. 

Have the necessary geocoding layers 

available and entered as address locators. 

Keep all geocoding layers and address 

locator services in one geodatabase. 

Store this model in the geocoding 

geodatabase while storing output data 

in an alternate database. This will help 

reduce schema locks5 on the geocoding 

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geodatabase while viewing the geocoded 

incident file. It will also promote 

a general organization system for 

geocoded data. 

After the toolbox is added to the 

geodatabase, the folder structure will 

resemble the following image:

Geocoding data. 

Right-click the geocoding geodatabase 

and select New>Toolbox. 

Right-click the Toolbox and select 

New>Model. 

Right-click the newly created model 

and select edit to see the empty 

ModelBuilder stage. 

From ArcToolbox, find the Geocode 

Addresses tool from Geocode Toolbox 

and drag that onto the model stage. 

Double-click the model and enter 

the following required parameters by 

finding or saving them in your working 

directory: 

Input Table

Input Address Locator 

Input Address Fields 

Output Feature Class 

Alternatively, drag the data elements 

onto the stage from the Table of 

Contents and connect them to the tool 

by clicking the Add Connection Tool . 

The following image depicts what your 

model stage should resemble, with the 

systems concepts labeled as Input, Tool, 

and Output. 

Push the Run button . This model will 

produce a new geocoded feature class 

called “Incident1.”

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Creating Kernel Densities for 

Hot Spot Mapping

This section describes a model that will 

automate the query and hot spot routine 

that analysts are commonly asked to 

complete. Specifically, this model will 

query the newly geocoded Feature Class 

with a Structured Query Language6 (SQL) 

query and then run a Kernel Density7

tool from Spatial Analyst. The model 

is assembled in a similar fashion to the 

geocoding model described above. 

This section discusses using the Feature Class 

to Feature Class tool to create a new feature 

class from a query. In this case, the tool should 

break down the full Incident1 feature class 

into an individual crime type and deliver 

the Kernel Density output to the Incident 

geodatabase after the model is run. 

Assume that the model should be 

flexible and that a user needs the ability 

to change some of the tool parameters 

when opening the model. 

Right-click the Feature Class to 

Feature model and hover over Make 

Variable>From Parameter. This will 

bring up a list of parameters that a 

user would usually enter when doubleclicking the tool. 

By selecting parameters here, those 

parameters become a separate piece of 

the model. 

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G&PS | February 2008

Right-click the new floating model 

component and select Model Parameter. 

The parameters normally entered for 

individual tools become parameters for an 

entire model. The model is then used as a 

geoprocessing tool. Change the incident’s 

SQL query expression and the search radius 

in the same window. 

When running kernel densities for hot spots 

of multiple types of crime, copy and paste 

the existing model into the model stage. 

This will create multiple

strings of tools. 

The Feature Class to Feature Class tool 

can set the SQL query expression for each 

crime type queried, and the Kernel Density 

tool will produce raster (i.e., pixel-based) 

densities for each incident feature class a 

user creates. 

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Notes

1. More information can be found at www.esri.com.

2. Input and output data locations are the file paths where 

GIS data can be entered into the geoprocessing tool or 

where the geoprocessing tool saves created data.

3. Street files and geofiles are two types of geolocating 

databases. When used in mapping, a geofile places each 

address in the center of the dominant building on that 

parcel of land. If there is no entry for that address in the 

geofile, it will reference the street file system.

4. This document assumes that readers are familiar with 

address locators and geocoding tabular data.

5. Schema locks prevent an analyst from using and editing 

data from a different GIS task.

6. Structured Query Language is the common format for 

database querying. Incidents can be queried by time, 

date, or any other data related to the incident.

7. Kernel Density is the standard tool used for creating hot 

spots. An analyst decides what the search radius should be 

and how the raster produced should be symbolized. 
11

With funding from a 2004 grant from the U.S. Department of Justice, 

the California University of Pennsylvania’s 

Earth Science Department was able to open 

a Crime Mapping Center that has helped 

local police departments identify trends 

while helping students interested in law 

enforcement build their careers.

The Crime Mapping Center is equipped 

with Geographic Information System 

(GIS) technology that allows students 

to complete weekly and monthly 

crime-mapping reports for rural police 

departments. Students have been working 

during the past several years for the 

Uniontown, Brownsville, Johnstown, 

and Bethel Park police departments in 

southwest Pennsylvania. The students 

download call-for-service data and process 

them with GIS software for display on 

electronic maps. Students then analyze 

the crime data and show law enforcement 

officers the spatial patterns of crimes 

(either all crimes in the area or specific 

crimes, such as assault or criminal 

mischief). These maps help police monitor 

crime in their jurisdictions.

One example of using such data was the 

creation of a map of criminal mischief 

complaints that occurred near abandoned 

buildings. This hot spot map enabled police 

to track these incidents and look for trends. 

Students also created maps of the “mean 

center” (or spatial average) of robbery 

incidents for three separate months. This 

allowed the police to examine if robberies 

were moving in a particular direction and 

discuss what underlying reasons might be 

causing the geographical shift. The reports 

are also used to support applications for 

federal grants.

Many metropolitan police forces have units 

that concentrate solely on crime mapping, 

but police departments in this region of 

Pennsylvania do not have the funding for 

such units. The partnership with California 

University of Pennsylvania provides these 

police departments with important services 

they could not otherwise afford.

The center benefits students as well. It is 

staffed by student volunteers interested in 

applying what they learn in the classroom 

to real problems facing police. The center 

is run by the university’s Earth Science 

Planning Club, but any student from 

the university is welcome once he or she 

receives training. Working at the center 

has opened career doors for these students, 

many of whom have gone on to become 

professional crime analysts. As analysts, 

they apply the skills and experience they 

gained to problems of resource deployment, 

directed patrols, checkpoint locations, 

traffic accident avoidance, and community 

mobilization. They also help their 

departments address the elements that lead 

to crime and the demand for police services. 

California University of Pennsylvania’s Earth 

Science Department hopes that it will be 

able to expand its crime-mapping services to 

more police departments in the future.

Highlight: California University of Pennsylvania 

Opens Crime Mapping Center 

Tom Mueller, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, California University of Pennsylvania

Director, Peter J. Daley Geographic Technology Center

Back Row. California University President Angelo Armenti, Brad Clemenson, 

Mayor Norma Ryan of Brownsville Front. Tom Mueller, Chief Stephen Cooper of Connellsville
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G&PS | February 2008

Crime mapping has helped officers analyze crime patterns in Jersey City, New Jersey. 

A series of news reports published the week of 

October 15, 2007 drew attention to the city’s 

crime problem and discussed recent initiatives 

to stop crime.

Crime is reported every 3 hours in Jersey City. 

Theft and robbery are the most commonly 

reported incidents. When crime analysts 

used a computer mapping program to map 

recorded incidents, they found four areas in 

the city with the highest levels of crime—the 

Martin Luther King Drive corridor, the Central 

Avenue corridor in the Heights, the Newark 

Avenue strip, and the Montgomery Gardens 

public housing complex. Additionally, the city’s 

Newport Centre Mall had the highest crime 

rate of any single address.

Each of these crime hot spots has its own crime 

problems. For instance, the Martin Luther 

King Drive corridor, which encompasses several 

neighborhoods in the city, has high drug 

activity. The downtown Newark Avenue area 

has problems with car break-ins. The Newport 

Centre Mall deals mostly with theft and 

shoplifting.

Crime mapping has helped officers analyze 

crime patterns in Jersey City, New Jersey. A 

series of news reports published the week of 

October 15, 2007 drew attention to the city’s 

crime problem and discussed recent initiatives 

to stop crime.

Crime is reported every 3 hours in Jersey City. 

Theft and robbery are the most commonly 

reported incidents. When crime analysts 

used a computer mapping program to map 

recorded incidents, they found four areas in 

the city with the highest levels of crime—the 

Martin Luther King Drive corridor, the Central 

Avenue corridor in the Heights, the Newark 

Avenue strip, and the Montgomery Gardens 

public housing complex. Additionally, the city’s 

Newport Centre Mall had the highest crime 

rate of any single address.

Each of these crime hot spots has its own crime 

problems. For instance, the Martin Luther 

King Drive corridor, which encompasses several 

neighborhoods in the city, has high drug 

activity. The downtown Newark Avenue area 

has problems with car break-ins. The Newport 

Centre Mall deals mostly with theft and 

shoplifting.

How Can Jersey City Reduce Crime 

in Public Housing Complexes? 

Within the city’s top 10 crime hot spots are 

three public housing complexes, including 

the Montgomery Gardens public housing 

complex, suggesting that officers must find 

ways to regulate crime in these area. New Jersey 

Housing Authority Director Maria Maio, as 

quoted in the Hudson County Now, suggests the 

high crime rates may have to do with the way 

the buildings are laid out. She said, “These are 

dense, open areas where everybody has access, 

creating a lot of traffic and activity. At Booker 

T. Washington (housing complex), there is a 

vast no-man’s land at the basketball courts, and 

that’s where a lot of the crime happens.”

Experts hope that housing demolition and 

renovation efforts can be used to reduce crimes 

in these complexes. The city has put in progress 

a plan called Hope VI that will demolish 

these buildings and replace them with smaller 

housing units and a mixture of low- and 

moderate- income homes.

New Jersey Report Highlights City’s 

Crime Hot Spots 

NEWS BRIEFS
13

Police Use COMSTAT to Combat 

Crime 

In their effort to target criminal activity, 

the Jersey City police reintroduced the 

COMSTAT program in March 2006. 

COMSTAT is similar to the New York 

Police Department’s famous crime-reducing 

initiative CompStat. Using COMSTAT, top 

officers to meet twice a month to review 

crime statistics and maps to find crime 

patterns and trends. This information is 

used to decide the best way to distribute 

law enforcement and combat crime. 

Additionally, the COMSTAT program 

holds officers accountable for crime in their 

jurisdictions. Public officials say COMSTAT 

has reduced violent crime by 8 percent, and 

nonviolent crime by 13 percent. 

But changes in policing and public housing 

are only part of Jersey City’s initiative to 

target crime hot spots. Other initiatives may 

include building taller downtown buildings 

to drive up real estate prices, funding better 

street lighting, and working toward a greater 

police presence. Crime mapping has helped 

the city understand where to start.

For more information, see: www.nj.com/

hudsoncountynow/index.

How to Understand 

Crime “Blobs” on a 

Map 

Crime maps are created when analysts use 

software to mark each reported crime in a 

given area over a certain period of time. They 

place a grid over the map and measure the 

crime density within each square on the grid. 

With a little bit of number crunching and 

the use of specialized software, they can show 

where in a given area crime rates are highest, 

and where crime is not a problem. An article 

by Rob Gebeloff in Newark’s Star-Ledger

describes how to understand mapping data 

for crime observed in Newark, New Jersey 

over the past 21⁄2 years using a map with 

34,000 points.

For more information, see: http://blog.

nj.com/statattack/2007/10/whats_the_deal_

with_those_crim.html.

New Jersey Makes 

Crime Maps Available 

to the Public 

Newark’s Star-Ledger and the Jersey Journal

have placed crime maps and incident 

information on the web and made them 

available to the general public. Data cover 

crime that occurred in Jersey City between 

January 1, 2006 and July 23, 2007 and 

crime in Newark between January 1, 2005 

and August 1, 2007.

For more information, see: www.nj.com/news

bythenumbers.

News Bites 

The Chicago Police Department’s 

Citizen and Law Enforcement Analysis 

and Reporting (CLEAR) system won 

Harvard University’s 2007 Innovations 

in American Government Award. The 

CLEAR system provides real-time crime 

data and allows police agencies to share 

criminal data.

Police in Fargo, North Dakota, have 

been using a new crime mapping system 

to examine crime patterns and target 

criminal activity. The system has already 

proved its efficacy, helping police solve a 

string of burglaries committed in 2005 

by a robber nicknamed “Shoe Boy.”

Chicago gang crime expert Phil Cline 

may be putting his expertise to work 

in the suburbs. Cline will use his 

computerized mapping system to 

identify crime patterns and hot spots in 

suburbs surrounding the Chicago area.

Oakland, California, has produced an 

interactive crime map of the city. The tool 

is expected to help educate the general 

public on crime patterns and trends. Find 

it at oakland.crimespotting.org.

San Jose, California has created a crime 

mapping web site in conjunction with 

crimereports.com. The system lets users 

report crimes and provides the police 

with easy mapping for dispatch.

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COPS Grant Information 

at your fingertips

The Response Center provides 

information on:

COPS Grants

Grant Applications

Grant Management

COPS Online, passwords, 

financial status reports, etc.

Community policing training 

available from the Regional 

Community Policing Institutes

COPS Publications

Contacting your state Grant 

Program Specialist or Staff 

Accountant 

To contact the Response Center

Phone: 800.421.6770

Fax: 202.616.8594

E-mail: askcopsrc@usdoj.gov

Mailing address:

COPS Office Response Center

1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20530

Hours of Operation:

Monday to Friday, 9:00 – 5:00 

Eastern Time

After-hours voicemail – call returned 

next business day

Information available 24 hours a day 

at www.cops.usdoj.gov

Ask us for materials to address 

a specific problem in your 

community.

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www.cops.usdoj.gov
2008 Indiana GIS Conference

February 19–20, 2008 in Indianapolis, Indiana

www.in.gov/igic

TuGIS 2008 (Annual Geographic Information 

Sciences Conference)

March 17–18, 2008 in Towson, Maryland

tugis.towson.edu

Southern Regional Science Association (SRSA) 

Annual Meeting

March 26–30, 2008 in Arlington, Virginia

www.srsa.org

URISA/NENA Addressing Conference 

(formerly GIPSC and URISA’s Street Smart 

and Address Savvy Conference)

Cosponsored by the National Emergency Number 

Association and URISA. 

April 7–10, 2008 in Portland, Oregon

www.urisa.org/conferences/Addressing/Info

IALEIA/LEIU Annual Conference

April 7–11, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts

www.ialeia.org

2008 Annual Meeting of the Association of 

American Geographers (AAG)

April 15–19, 2008 in Boston, Massachusetts

www.aag.org/annualmeetings/2008/index.htm

California GIS Conference

April 23–25, 2008 in Modesto, California

www.calgis.org

Pennsylvania GIS Conference

May 14–15, 2008 in Camp Hill, Pennsylvania

cgis.hbg.psu.edu/conference/home.aspx

9th Annual International Conference on Digital 

Government Research

May 18–21, 2008 in Montreal, Quebec

www.dgo2008.org

2008 ESRI International User Conference

August 4–8, 2008 in San Diego, California

www.esri.com/events/uc/index.html

Tenth Crime Mapping Research Conference

September 17–20, 2008 in New Orleans

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/maps

GIScience 2008

September 23–26, 2008 in Park City, Utah

www.ai_geostats.org/index.php?id=215

2008 California Crime and Intelligence Analysts 

Association (CCIAA) 

September 23–26, 2008 in Pleasanton, California

www.crimeanalyst.org

Urban and Regional Information Systems 

Association (URISA) 46th Annual Conference

October 7–10, 2008 in New Orleans, Louisiana

www.urisa.org/conferences/aboutannual

Crime News Events 2008

Dealing with crime problems in a local law enforcement agency sometimes means reaching out to 

other local agencies (e.g., city planning) to come up with a solution. The events listed here are good 

opportunities to learn what mapping professionals and those in related areas are doing, get new ideas, 

and present your work. 

14

G&PS | February 2008
July 21–23, 2008

Crystal Gateway Marriott

Arlington, Virginia

For more information, visit

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/2008.htm

Featuring the plenary panel

“Making Smarter Decisions: 

Connecting Crime Mapping with City Officials”

15
U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

1100 Vermont Avenue, N.W.

Washington, DC 20530

To obtain details on COPS programs, call the 

COPS Office Response Center at 800.421.6770

Visit COPS Online at www.cops.usdoj.gov

Editorial Staff

Nicole Scalisi

Research Analyst

Community Oriented Policing Services

Ron Wilson

Program Manager/Social Science Analyst 

National Institute of Justice

Katie Filbert

Research Associate (Contractor)

National Institute of Justice

Judith Beres

Editor

Community Oriented Policing Services

Ariel Whitworth

Communications Editor

National Criminal Justice Reference Service

Sandra Sharpe

Production

Community Oriented Policing Services

Esteban Hernandez

Production Coordinator

Community Oriented Policing Services

National Institute of Justice 

810 Seventh Street, N.W.

Washington, DC 20531 

Visit NIJ Online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij