Today, with the widespread use of technology, more and more police departments have ventured into computer mapping to analyze crime trends and manage investigations. LeBeau, a geographer with SIUC's Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency, and Corrections , is an expert on crime mapping and geographical profiling of crimes. Over the years many police departments have tapped him for assistance with investigations. Now he is also helping departments learn to get the most out of computer mapping. In 1997, only 16 percent of U.S. police departments were routinely using some type of computerized mapping.
Mapping fits well with law enforcement's current emphasis on community-oriented policing.
But many departments aren't using the technology to good advantage, he says, because their personnel lack training in geography and cartography. That's where LeBeau and his students come in. But the real aim is to improve departments' mapping skills. Once a map is created, GIS allows you to zoom in on particular areas. For example, layers showing population densities and employment rates of a city's neighborhoods could be overlaid with a layer showing the annual number of calls to the police from each neighborhood.