Interpreting Crime Maps Interpreting Crime Maps Mapping crime provides a valuable picture of the location of crime. But maps, like any other data, are subject to interpretation.
Maps can be misleading.
On all of our crime maps for instance, a large area in northwest Lincoln appears to be crime-free. The area, however, is composed of the runways, taxiways, and aprons at the Lincoln Municipal Airport. Crime affects virtually all neighborhoods in Lincoln, but using maps alone to compare crime from one area to another is difficult. These features of the physical and social environment, and many more, all affect the meaning of the points on a map. The number or density of crimes, moreover, is only part of the story.