Do YOU Know

      Your Neighbors?

               Do THEY Know You?

Did you know the Neighborhood Watch Program has been in effect for over thirty years in towns, cities, and rural areas across the country?  Do you realize how invaluable your eyes and ears can be to your neighbor?  Neighborhood Watch is a program of neighbors watching out for one another and reporting suspicious activity to police.  It’s based on the concept of cooperation between law enforcement, city officials and residents.  By taking an active role in the protection of their homes and families, residents are better able to discourage criminal activity and keep their neighborhoods safe.

The ABCs of Neighborhood Watch

• Any community resident can join — young and old, single or married, renter or home owner.
• A few concerned residents with assistance from their local police department’s Crime Prevention Unit can easily organize a Watch.
• Members learn how to make their homes more secure, watch out for each other and the neighborhood, and report activities that raise their suspicions to the police.
• You can form a Watch group around any geographical unit such as a block, apartment complex, park, business area, or public housing complex.
• Watch groups are NOT vigilantes. They are simply extra eyes and ears for reporting crime and helping neighbors.

Getting Organized

When a group decides to form a Neighborhood Watch, they:

• Should contact their local police department’s Crime Prevention Unit for help with training members in home security, reporting methods and how to gather information on local crime patterns.
• Select a coordinator and block captains who are responsible for organizing meetings and relaying information to members. Neighborhood Watch meetings can be held in schools, churches or homes.
• Recruit members, contacts new residents and make an effort to involve as many residents as possible.
• Work with the Crime Prevention Unit to purchase and install Neighborhood Watch signs.

Neighbors look for…

• Someone looking into windows and parked cars.
• Unusual noises.
• Property being taken out of closed businesses or houses where no one is at home.
• Vehicles moving slowly with no apparent destination, passing by numerous times, or driving without lights.
• Anyone being forced into a vehicle.
• A stranger sitting in a car or stopping to talk to a child.
• Abandoned cars.
• Strangers running through private yards or alleyways

Additional Projects and Programs

Many projects within a Neighborhood Watch program contribute to its success.  An example is Citizens On Patrol.  As the name implies, Citizens on Patrol are citizens who, after being screened, background checked, and trained by local law enforcement, patrol their communities acting as “eyes and ears” for law enforcement.

 The National Neighborhood Watch Institute offers a system for property protection called Operation Identification.   The program involves marking valuables with a specific number that identifies the owner.  This assists in the retrieval of personal property as well as discourages theft.

Think About It

The Neighborhood Watch Program is one of the most effective and important anti-crime strategies in the country.  For any community that is interested in providing its citizens a safe and pleasant environment, a crime watch program is one of the least expensive ways in which to do so. 

Just think about it!  A police officer patrolling your neighborhood may not recognize a stranger in your yard, but your neighbors would. Neighbors know who you are and the type of car you drive. They may be the first to notice a burglar at your window or a strange car in your driveway.  Be a good neighbor and look out for each other!     

It’s All About Big $$$

In the United States, two vehicles are stolen every minute.  Motor vehicle theft is no longer a crime committed by teenagers simply out for a joyride.  It’s big business often run by organized crime rings out to make big profits at your expense! 

Although more than half (62%) of stolen vehicles are found, sometimes with severe damage, the remaining vehicles end up in the hands of organized criminals and end up going in one of three places:

• Shipped overseas and sold on the black market
• Stripped at a chop shop, with its parts sold to body shop operators who then sell the parts or install them on other vehicles
• Resold to an unsuspecting consumer

Which Would You Choose?

Which car do you think would be more tempting for a car thief? A brand new Honda Civic with a navigation system, XM satellite radio and heated leather seats or one that is 13 years old with fabric seats and been driven over 150,000 miles?  Surprisingly, the thief wants the old car.

At least that’s the word from the “Hot Wheels 2008″ auto theft report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau  (NCIB) that ranks the most stolen vehicles in 2007. At the top of the list is the 1995 Honda Civic followed by the 1991 Honda Accord. This is the fourth year in a row that the ‘95 Civic has been in the top 10.

The top 10 most stolen cars in 2007:

Oldies but goodies!  Why are the oldies such goodies in the eyes of car thieves?

They’re full of replacement parts such as catalytic converters. Hondas are especially wanted since Honda engine components fit other Honda car models. That is, parts from a Civic will also fit an Accord.  We see a large amount of older Hondas and Toyotas on the road because they’re so reliable which is a good thing.  Unfortunately, this makes them a bigger target.

A Few Simple Steps  Could Save You a Major Headache!

The NCIB encourages everyone to follow what it calls a “layered approach” to auto theft protection.   The four layers are:

Layer #1 – Common Sense: The common sense approach to protection is the easiest and most cost-effective way to protect your vehicle. You should always:

• Remove keys from ignition
• Lock doors/close windows
• Park in well-lit areas

Layer #2 – Warning Device: The second layer of protection is using visible or audible devices to warn thieves that your vehicle is protected. A few examples are:

• Audible alarms
• Steering column collars
• Steering wheel/Brake pedal lock
• Brake locks
• Wheel locks
• Tire locks/Tire deflators
• Theft deterrent decals
• Identification markers in or on vehicle

 Layer #3 – Immobilizing Device: The third layer of protection is using a device to prevent thieves from bypassing your ignition and hot-wiring the vehicle.  Some electronic devices have computer chips in ignition keys. Other devices inhibit the flow of electricity or fuel to the engine until a hidden switch or button is activated.  Popular devices include:

• Smart keys
• Fuse cut-offs
• Kill switches
• Starter, ignition and fuel disablers
• Wireless, ignition authentication

Layer # 4 – Tracking Device: The final layer of protection is a tracking device that emits a signal to police or a monitoring station when the vehicle is stolen.  Tracking devices are extremely effective in helping authorities recover stolen vehicles.

Common sense and awareness coupled with a few simple steps can save you a great deal of frustration while making a car thief’s life a little more difficult.

A parent’s worst fear is having their child irreversibly hurt in such a way that leaves emotional scars for life.  Sexual assault is a perfect example of such a fear.  Unfortunately, much of what we know regarding sexual assault against children is based on myths. As a result, some of our fears are unwarranted while other beliefs leave our children unprotected. 

What You Know: Fact or Fiction

The people behind Megan’s Law in California have put together a great quiz to test your knowledge about sex offenders. Take the quiz to find out how much of what you know is accurate or based on myths. Then come back here for some tips on how to keep your children safe.

Here are a couple questions that cover some of the most common misconceptions we’ve come across:

Most child sexual abusers use physical force or threat to gain compliance from their victims.

False. In the majority of cases, abusers gain access to their victims through deception and enticement, seldom using force. Abuse typically occurs within a long-term, ongoing relationship between the offender and victim and escalates over time.

Most child sexual abusers find their victims by frequenting such places as schoolyards and playgrounds.

False. Most child sexual abusers offend against children whom they know and with whom they have established a relationship.

Most men who commit sexual offenses do not know their victim.

False. 90% of child victims know their offender, with almost half of the offenders being a family member. Of sexual assaults against people age 12 and up, approximately 80% of the victims know the offender.

Child sexual abusers are only attracted to children and are not capable of appropriate sexual relationships.

False. While there is a small subset of child sexual abusers who are exclusively attracted to children, the majority of the individuals who sexually abuse children are (or have previously been) attracted to adults.

Only men commit sexual assault.

False. While most sex offenders are male, sometimes sex offenses are committed by female offenders.

• Megan’s Law—Facts about Sex Offenders [California Office of Attorney General]

Did you pass this small portion of the quiz?  Flying colors or not, you are now armed with factual information. This is invaluable when teaching your kids how to protect themselves. 

Safety Tips—Teach Your Children

• Knowledge is power. Parents, you can educate yourself about those known offenders who reside in your community by contacting your local law enforcement agency.
• Remember, most sexual assaults are committed by someone the victim knows. A stranger doesn’t pose the highest risk to your children. 80-95% of sex offenders are known to their victims.  This includes relatives, friends and authority figures such as teachers and coaches.  Communicate with your children that if they feel uncomfortable in someone’s presence, to trust their instincts. Take steps to distance themselves from him or her. Don’t be afraid to make a scene if necessary. Many assault victims report that they were too polite. Tell someone!
• Avoid high-risk situations. Be observant and aware of your surroundings. Avoid poorly lit areas where an attacker might hide. Identify safe people in your neighborhood that you or your children can go to if you need help. Be thoughtful and use good judgment in choosing your friends and partners. Be cautious about making personal contact with those you meet on the internet.

Great Place to Start

The Federal Bureau of Investigation—Crimes Against Children is an invaluable website.  From here you can choose any state.  Each states’ website provides a wealth of information including sex offender facts, warning signs, victim services, community notification process, contact information, etc. Also, the Center For Missing And Exploited Children is another fantastic resource offering registry websites, child safety information and related news links.

A Resource at Your Fingertips!

Be sure to set yourself up on RAIDS Online to receive email notifications about crime occurring in your area.  You can designate a specific radius from your home address and specify crime types of your interest, such as sexual assaults. It’s that easy!

The Lewiston Police Department recently announced their use of RAIDS Online to the public. Check out the video.

Mapping technology gives easy access to crime stats

Mapping technology gives easy access to crime stats [NBC / WCSH 6 Portland, Maine]

Much of crime fighting focuses on people—criminals, police officers, victims and even the general public. Unfortunately, people can be difficult to work with and hard to change. So what if we took people out of the equation and instead tried to prevent crime through something that is easy to change: the physical environments we live and work in everyday? 

That’s exactly the idea behind the approach known as Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED). The basic idea behind CPTED is to use the environment to change the behavior of criminals in order to limit crime. Let’s look at how we can use CPTED to prevent crime through some simple changes to our homes, cars and workplaces. 

Is Your House a Target for Burglars?

What makes your home attractive to a burglar? If a burglar is considering your neighborhood, you want to make sure your house isn’t at the top of the list of prime properties to burglarize. If the choice is between your house and one down the street, access will be the deciding factor.

When targeting potential houses, there are a number of visual factors that a burglar uses:

• Are doors and windows hidden? (Can I get in and out without being seen?)
• Is anybody home? (Clues: newspapers piled up on the driveway, various flyers stuck in the front door, an unshoveled driveway.)
• No sign of an alarm system. (Can I remain “anonymous”?)
• Valuables are visible from the street. (Are the goods worth the risk?)

Knowing Your Adversary

According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report 2005, over 62 % of residential burglaries occured between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. These crimes are most often committed when residences are most likely to be unoccupied.  According to the U.S. Department of Justice burglaries of residential properties accounted for 70.3 % of all burglary offenses.

Burglars are opportunists, that  means they don’t choose victims randomly.  They look for easy opportunities — houses that can be approached without neighbors seeing or hearing anything, or a door or window left cracked open.  Some burglars cruise a neighborhood looking for a house that seems unoccupied. They may try to ring the doorbell.  If no one responds, they’ll examine the house more closely. They may test the doors and locks, take note of window locations, look for alarms, and so on.

Three Key Principles of CPTED

Let’s take a look at the three main principles of CPTED along with a few examples of each.

Natural Surveillance

Areas where people and their activities can be easily observed are covered by natural surveillance. Environments need to be created where there’s plenty of opportunity for people engaged in their normal, everyday behavior to observe the space around them. 

Examples:     

• Make sure the house and the grounds are visible from the street and by neighbors.
• Make sure all entranceways are illuminated at night.
• Verify shrubbery, trees and other landscaping are well-located and maintained.
• Verify entrances and windows are free of other obstructions.

Natural Access Control

Most burglars will try to find a way into an area where they won’t be easily seen.  Limiting access and increasing natural surveillance makes this much harder.  By selectively placing fencing, lighting and landscaping, natural access control occurs.

Examples:

• Verify all possible points of entry and exit are visible.
• Use a locking gate between front and back yards.
• Try to eliminate design features that provide access to roofs or upper levels.

Natural Territorial Reinforcement:

An environment designed to clearly distinguish private space does two things. First, it creates a sense of ownership.  Second, it creates an environment where “strangers” or “intruders” stand out. 

Examples:       

• Installing fencing, pavement, lighting and landscaping expresses ownership and further defines private space.
• Display security system signs at entry  points.

Secure Your Space—Other CPTED Strategies

In addition to following the three key principles of CPTED, you can secure the premise by asking yourself the following questions: 

• Is the door hardware (for example, locks, latches, handles, hinges,) durable and securely installed?
• Is the locking mechanism effective on sliding doors?
• Is the garage door kept locked? Are tools and ladders kept where they can’t be accessed by a burglar?
• Do the basement and ground-floor windows have adequate locks?
• Are second-story windows that might be reached (for example, from the garage roof, ladder or overhanging tree limb) locked?
• Are all interior doors leading to the exterior (for example, basement, garage) locked?

One Final Suggestion . . .

Don’t tweet your travel plans!  Make sure to do the following before leaving for vacation:

• Lock all deadbolts.
• Leave a few lights on or set a few on timers.
• Stop newspaper delivery.
• Place mail on hold at the post office.
• Notify neighbors of your travel plans.

How have you changed your space to prevent crime in your area? Spread the crime prevention! Share your ideas, experiences, successes, failures, or thoughts with others in the comment section.

I recently decided to start a new career in crime analysis.  In hopes that it may help others who are considering a similar path, I am going to share my experience with changing careers.

After having been home for several years raising my children, I decided I was ready to jump into a career again.  However, this time I wanted to switch directions and work in a field that had always interested me . . . Criminal Justice.  I spent ten years working at a software company testing financial software, assisting with training documentation and working with clients.  My motivation to switch to crime analysis was a desire to develop a career in which I could build on my existing education and skills as well as spend time doing something I enjoy that is worthwhile and productive.

Crime Analysis

My interest in criminal justice and law enforcement stems from my family background.  A few of my family members work in the criminal justice arena (police force and legal system) and a few landed on the wrong side of the law.  This family history has always intrigued me, which naturally led me to my choice in becoming a crime analyst. Crime analysis is the systematic study of crime and disorder problems along with police-related issues such as sociodemographic, spatial, and temporal factors, to assist police in criminal apprehension, crime reductions, crime prevention and evaluation.

My interest in crime, trends, numbers and statistics, plays to my analytical side and my problem solving skills.  It’s like constantly working on putting puzzle pieces together (unlike the forensic focus on television shows such as CSI: Miami).

Now, how do I get there?  I began by researching this career online to find some detailed information such as training requirements, growth potential, etc.  Here are a few websites I found to be helpful:

• Legal Criminal Justice Schools
• Bright Hub
• Massachusetts Association of Crime Analysts

Once I gathered enough information regarding this career choice, I decided to the best place to start was to begin with my education.

Education

I enrolled in a local community college’s Crime Analyst Certification program.  I also decided it would be beneficial to volunteer at a local police district while in school to obtain hands on experience.  The Denver Police Department provided such an opportunity.  After stressing my interests and goals during my interview, the officer in charge of volunteers placed me directly in their Data Analysis Unit where I immediately gained experience mapping crimes.

Crime analysis is a fairly new field, and training in the field is not widely available. Many criminal justice programs focus on police work and offer courses focusing on problems in law enforcement. I found just a few colleges offering certification programs, one of which was offered online.  However, the programs I found differed in the courses they offered, adding to my confusion as to exactly what is required to become an analyst.  I overcame this hurdle after discovering the International Association of Crime Analysts (IACA).  The IACA provides a wealth of information regarding available training, the certification requirements, software, conferences, etc. The Colorado Crime Analysis Association (CCAA) is another helpful site on the local level.  I was able to join both associations through the Denver Police Department.  My joining CCAA has enabled me to network with various agencies and become involved in future training needs.

Experience and Skill Requirements

Researching current crime analyst job postings was another great way to get a handle on education and skill requirements.  Simply Hired is very helpful.  Typically crime analysis involves some familiarity with law enforcement terminology, applied statistics, social science and geographical mapping. This may include subjects such as psychological profiling and intelligence analysis.  Although the education requirements vary slightly from posting to posting most prefer a bachelor’s degree with emphasis on social sciences, criminology, statistics or a related field.  Just a few of the postings mention certification.  As far as experience requirements, most postings are looking for 1-2 years professional level experience in law enforcement environment analyzing crime data and mapping with Geographical Information Systems (GIS).  GIS is a software tool used to modify, visualize, query and analyze geographic and tabular data.  The skill requirements include knowledge of computer data systems, statistical analysis and mapping software programs; ability to identify and organize data for analytical purposes and present data; and proficiency in the use of personal computers in a Window, MS Office operating environment.

Salary & Growth Potential

I found PayScale to be a helpful site that runs compensation surveys.  It estimates a yearly salary range of $30,000 to $80,000 for crime analysts.  The large range may be due to the fact that law enforcement salaries are linked to civil service salaries.  In some areas of the U.S. civil service salaries are low, but in major metropolitan areas, where law enforcement may want and need civilian technical support, salaries are higher.  Indeed reports that the average annual salary for crime analysts is $57,000 while research done by  Legal-Criminal-Justice-Schools found that crime analyst salaries range from $28,000 to well over $66,000 a year depending on experience, education, location and related factors.  Based on twenty-three IACA postings within the last five years, the average salary range for a crime analyst is $48,589 – $64,317.  According to Legal-Criminal-Justice-Schools.com, the job outlook for crime analysts is promising with demand for formally educated crime analysts increasing over the last decade. The focus on the recession has created skepticism around certain career fields, but crime is prevalent in any economy and the need for law enforcement professionals and those who can help fight crime will continue to be in demand.

Now What?

I stumbled on an internship opportunity with Bair Software through IACA and am thoroughly enjoying it.  I’m gaining valuable hands-on experience while learning a new suite of applications specific to crime analysis.  Working with others who have a law enforcement background, develop software and train is incredibly beneficial as I learn invaluable bits of information on a weekly basis that wouldn’t be part of formal classes.  I’m on a strong path and look forward to developing this career as a crime analyst.

The Missouri City Police Department recently announced their use of RAIDS Online to the public. Check out the video.

Community Offers High Tech Crime Tools

Community offers high tech crime tools [ABC / KTRK-TV Channel 13]

Analysis is the process of pulling meaning from chaos. When you first load up your agency in RAIDS Online, you may feel overwhelmed by all those dots on the map. What does it all mean? Is crime high in my area? Does the type of crime happening near my home pose a danger? When is all this crime happening? This blog post will teach you some basic crime analysis techniques so you can make sense of crime in your area. Empowered by this knowledge, you can help make your community a safer place.

Step One: Define What You Want to Know

Choose a specific problem you want to address and define it clearly as either a question or a statement. For instance, you can state your problem as an exploratory question such as What time of day do burglaries most often occur within a mile of my home?. On the other hand, you can describe an assumption you hold that you wish to test such as Burglaries occur most often at night. We’ll use these two problem definitions as our examples for the rest of the post.

Step Two: Select the Crime Relevant to Your Problem

Use the address buffer, crime type list and date range selector to view only the crime that is relevant to your specific question. Follow the steps below to filter out all the unnecessary data so you’re left with only the crime you care about. Feel free to follow along with your own address.

1. Enter your address in the Address field and click the Go to Address button.
2. Turn on the address buffer by checking the Buffer checkbox.
3. Use the radius distance drop down menu (next to the buffer checkbox) to select a distance of 1 mile.
4. Check the Only display crimes within buffer checkbox to hide all crimes further than a mile from your address.
   

   Your search address box should look similar to this.

5. In the Crime Types box, click the Deselect All button. This will hide all the crime. Now click on the Burglary row to display the burglaries.
   

   Your crime type box should look like this.

6. Since the map defaults to only a week’s worth of data, we may need to select a longer timeframe in order to have enough crime to effectively answer your question or test your statement. For our particular problem, I would try to include around 50 burglaries in our analysis. I ended up selecting three months of burglaries to achieve this number. You may need to include more or less time. Hint: You can always find our how many crimes you are viewing by click on the Metadata tab and looking for the Records row.

Now you are viewing only the crime relevant to your analysis. Feel free to check out the Data Grid tab to get a feel for the nature of the crimes. You might also want to take a look at the Metadata tab to see the quality of the data, which has a direct bearing on the quality of your analysis.

Your map should look something like this after applying the filters. (Click the image for a larger version.)

Step Three: Run the Analytics

The next step is to select the appropriate analytics for our problem. We’re trying to discover patterns dealing with the time of day. This is a temporal problem. Consequently, the most appropriate analytic for our problem is the Temporal Topology, which displays when crime is occurring in time. The x-axis represents the hour of the day while the y-axis represents the day of the week. Times with the most crime appear in red while times with no crime appear in blue.

To run the temporal topology analytic, simply click on the Analytics tab.

The temporal topology showing when burglary is occurring in time. Yours will look a little different. (Click on the image for a larger version.)

Step Four: Draw Conclusions from the Analytics

Use the analytic you ran in the previous step to draw conclusions about the specific problem you defined in step one. Let’s start with our first definition, which we posed as an exploratory question: What time of day do burglaries most often occur within a mile of my home? Look at the temporal topology graph and answer that question by looking for hotspots (areas with the most crime) as depicted by red, orange and yellow shades. What times during the week show the most activity? In our example (shown above), it appears that burglaries occur most often during the day with slightly more activity during business hours.

Ask the opposite question: What times have little to no burglaries? In our example, the early morning hours (2 a.m. to 7 a.m.) of the weekdays show very few burglaries.

Burglaries by Day of Week (Click on the image for a larger version.)

You can flesh out this analysis a little bit by looking at which days have more crime in general. Confirm this by looking at the Crime Type by Day of Week graph. Likewise, take a look at the hours of day that tend to have a good deal of crime no matter the day of the week.

In our example, the number of burglaries don’t vary too much between the days of the week. Although we do notice a slight dip in the middle of the week, it only differs from the other days by one or two burglaries; we would need to include much more data to draw any solid conclusions from the Burglary by Day of Week graph.

Let’s answer our second problem definition, which we stated as an assumption that we wanted to test: Burglaries occur most often at night. We have probably already answered this question in the above analysis, but look at the temporal topology graph again with this assumption specifically in mind. Do burglaries happen more often during the night? Or do they tend to occur more often during the day?

What are some ways we can improve this analysis? Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments. Hint: Does our problem definition say anything about the distance from our address?

What Now?

Now that you have analyzed a specific crime problem in your area, don’t let that knowledge go to waste. Here are some steps you can take to make your community a safer place with your analysis.

• Ask your police department what you can do to help with the problem you discovered in your analysis.
• Present your analysis at your Neighborhood Watch meeting to foster awareness. Lead a discussion on how to solve the problem. Better yet, invite an officer from your police department to the meeting and pick his brain for ideas on how to deal with the issue.
• If you discover a common assumption about crime is not true—at least in your area—share what you have learned with others to put their minds at ease and focus their attention on real problems.
• Be more alert at the places and times that your analysis suggests is at risk for higher levels crime.

Those are just a few ideas to get you started thinking about where to go from here. Suggest more action steps in the comments. We might even add them to the list! We would also love to hear how you are using RAIDS Online to analyze crime in your area. Your experiences will help other readers become better analysts, so post away!

A Few Parting Tips

Narrow Down the Problem

Make sure your problem definition is specific. Too broad of a question will not exclude enough of the chaos to glean real meaning from the data. Analyze one crime type at a time instead of many. Focus your analysis on a small area rather than a large one. Compare two crime types over a period using the Timeline graph of time instead of trying to find patterns in all the crime types at once.

More Data = More Accurate Results

Crime, as with anything else, can randomly spike well above the average rate one week and dip real low another week. As a result, try to include as much data for your specific crime types or time periods as you can to even out these ups and downs. This will give you a more accurate picture of the real crime rates. For instance, when testing our assumption about when burglary most often happens, we should turn off the address buffer and bring in several months of data.

Confer with a Professional

Crime analysts at your police department have years of training and experience as well as powerful analysis tools. So you may want to check with them to confirm the results of your analysis and learn what you and your neighborhood can do to address the problem.

Density Maps or “Hotspots” are a huge source of fascination for the public and law enforcement. The attraction is obvious—a picture is worth a thousand words—however, the science behind actually identifying a hotspot varies widely from user to user. Analysts are always looking for clusters, groups, and hotspots. Indeed, trying to use a set of points—such as crime events—to define an area such as a hotspot, hunting ground, activity space, etc., is an important activity for any mapper. After all, the police need to narrow their search, prioritize their deployments, or focus on an area when at all possible.

Density maps help determine areas of dense activity.

By analyzing the density of points, rather than their mere locations, it is possible for us to visualize the influence of events very clearly and to convert the locations of discrete points into areas of interest. These in turn can give us insight into where future events may occur, from where they may originate, and why certain targets may be selected.

Density is calculated by counting up the number of events within a selected range of each cell; cells with a higher count of nearby events have a higher density than cells with a lower count. This range, known as the Search Radius, must be chosen carefully. If the Search Radius is short, there may not be any cells which are in range of more than one or two events. On the other hand, if the radius is too large, every cell might be in range of every event, therefore giving a meaningless result. Search Radius selection is the most critical part of performing density analysis. RAIDS has a proprietary algorithm that determines a suitable search distance at any zoom level in hopes of providing you hotspots at any level.

Imagine the topology as being like a map, except instead of terrain, it maps time. The X-Coordinate (horizontal) indicates the hour of the day, while the Y-Coordinate (vertical) indicates the day of the week. The Z-Coordinate (elevation) is represented by the volume of activity at that hour and day.

Temporal topologies identify the level of crime activity at a particular day and hour.

You read the temporal topology just as you would read the density map in RAIDS. Look for areas of high (or low) activity across the 168 hour week. Police agencies use the temporal topology to understand when activity happens, when to deploy resources, and when to staff officers. Temporal topologies, using vivid colors and shapes to draw the reader’s attention to significant findings, can be much clearer and easier to interpret than reading through countless rows of mind-numbing cross tabulated data.