Crime Mapping Survey

OMB NO. 1121-0223; Approval Expires XX/XX/2008

CRIME MAPPING SURVEY 2007:

1. Agency Name

2. 9-Digit ORI Number

3. Name of Individual Completing Survey

4. Title of Individual Completing Survey

5. How frequently do analysts or other personnel in your agency perform each of the following tasks?

	Daily	Weekly	Bi-Weekly	Monthly	Quarterly	Bi-Annually	Annually	Less than Annually	Never
Crime Analysis
Crime Mapping
Traffic Analysis
Provide Information on Demand Within the Agency
Provide Information on Demand Outside the Agency
Data Sharing with Other Agencies
NIBRS Reporting

6. How are your agency’s crime analysis capacities structured?

   1. Single Person Responsible for Crime Analysis

   2. Crime Analysis is a Formal, Authorized Unit

   3. Embedded in Another Unit

   4. Informal, Ad Hoc Function

   5. Other (Please Specify)

   6. None

7. How many analysts of the following type are there in your agency?

   1. Permanent

   2. Temporary (Grant-Funded)

   3. Temporary (Interns)

   4. Temporary (Other)

8. What is the educational requirement for crime analysts?

   1. High School Degree

   2. Bachelor’s Degree

   3. Master’s Degree

   4. Other (Please Specify)

   5. No educational requirements

9. Has your agency ever engaged in computerized crime mapping?

   1. Yes

   2. No (Please Skip to Question #51)

10. Does your agency currently engage in computerized crime mapping?

    1. Yes

    2. No

11. In what year did your agency first begin any computerized crime mapping?

12. In what year (if any) did your agency stop all computerized crime mapping?

    1. Within the past 12 months (Please Continue Completing Survey)

    2. Other (Please Specify, and Skip to Question #49)

13. What percentage of their time in any given month do each of the following categories of employee spend on computerized crime mapping?

    1. Dedicated Crime Analyst Staff

    2. Investigative / Detective Division Staff

    3. Patrol Officers

    4. Dispatchers

    5. Command Staff

    6. Chief of Police

    7. Community Policing Officers

    8. Other (Please Specify)

14. What type of computerized crime mapping software does your agency use? (Please check all that apply)

    1. Base Software (Please Specify Version)

       1. ArcGIS

       2. ArcInfo

       3. AtlasGIS

       4. Intergraph GeoMedia

       5. MapInfo

       6. Maptitude

       7. Other (Please Specify)

    2. Extensions

       1. CASE Tools

       2. CrimeView

       3. Hawth’s Tools

       4. X Tools

       5. Other (Please Specify)

    3. Stand-Alone Software

       1. CrimeStat

       2. GeoDa

       3. R

       4. RCAGIS

       5. RIGEL

       6. SATSCAN

       7. SchoolCop

       8. Other (Please Specify)

    4. Programmed Own Tools

15. What type of data does your agency currently map / geocode?

	Average Geocoding Rate	Zip Codes	Street Address	Street Intersection	Parcel #	Building Centroid	GPS Coordinate	X-Y Coordinates Already in Data	Other
Calls-for-Service
Incident Reports
Arrest Reports
Traffic Stops
Traffic Accidents
Drug or Gun Seizures
Vehicle Recovery Location
Property Recovery Location
Residence of Released Prisoners
Residence of Probationers or Parolees
Residence of Sex Offenders
Generating Location of Anonymous Tips
Location of Field Interviews
Location of Arrest Warrants Served or to be Served
Other (Please Specify)

16. How does the agency deal with crime data that have minimal location information and cannot be matched to an exact address? (Please check all that apply)

    1. Records are removed from any mapping or analyses

    2. Records are included in aggregate data but excluded from point analyses

    3. Records are mapped to a default point near the approximate location (e.g. census block centroid)

    4. Records are held until more information is obtained

    5. Records are maintained as they are obtained (without any editing)

    6. Unknown

    7. Other (Please Specify)

17. How often do the crime data that the agency receives exhibit any of the following characteristics?

	Always	Frequently	Occasionally	Infrequently	Never	Unknown
Multiple crimes geocoded to default locations
Crimes geocoded to street midpoints
Duplicate crimes (i.e. geocoded twice)
Incorrect or inconsistent street or place name spelling
Incorrect zip code or city
Obviously incorrect geocode (e.g. crime is geocoded to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean)
Other signs of poor quality or incomplete geocoding (Please specify)

18. How often does crime incident data become available for an analyst to use in GIS?

    1. Daily

    2. Weekly

    3. Bi-Weekly

    4. Monthly

    5. On an as-needed basis

    6. Other (Please Specify)

19. At what level is geocoded data provided to the public through static, hard-copy maps or the use of a website? (Please check all that apply)

    1. Face-block

    2. Street address

    3. Street midpoint

    4. Street intersection

    5. Other level of aggregation (Please Specify)

    6. Not at all

20. Does your agency maintain an internal website with interactive on-line mapping and analysis?

    1. Yes

    2. No (Skip to Question #22 )

21. Who can access your agency’s internal on-line mapping and analysis website? (Please check all that apply)

    1. Command Staff

    2. Patrol Officers

    3. Community Policing Officers

    4. Crime Analysts

    5. General Public

    6. Other (Please Specify)

22. Does your agency maintain an external (i.e. for public use) website for crime mapping data?

    1. Yes

    2. No (Skip to Question #25)

23. What crime types (if any) are restricted from the external website? (Please list all that apply)

    1. None

24. What attributes are available for data presented on the external? (Please list all that apply)

25. Do analysts carry out any of the following statistical tests to assess patterns within geocoded data? (Please check all that apply)

    1. Point Data

       1. Standard Distance Deviation

       2. Nearest Neighbor Index

       3. Nearest Neighbor Index with Z-Score

       4. Unknown

       5. Other (Please Specify)

       6. None

    2. Aggregate Data

       1. Moran’s I

       2. Geary’s C

       3. Unknown

       4. Other (Please Specify)

       5. None

26. Do analysts conduct any of the following temporal analyses using geocoded crime data? (Please check all that apply)

    1. Crimes are analyzed according to the time of day the offense was committed

    2. Crimes are analyzed according to the day of the week the offense was committed

    3. Crimes are analyzed according to seasonal changes in specific areas

    4. Aoristic analysis

    5. Cluster analysis

27. How frequently do analysts in your agency perform each of the following types of mapping?

	Daily	Weekly	Bi-Weekly	Monthly	Bi-Annually	Annually	Less than Annually	Never
Point Pattern Analysis
Thematic Mapping
Hot Spot Analysis
Geographic Profiling (if Never, please skip to Question #36)
Forecasting
Areal Unit Analysis

28. Which tools has your agency used in the past for geographic profiling? (Please check all that apply)

1. CrimeStat (any version)

2. DRAGNET

3. IOPS

4. RIGEL

5. Other (Please Specify)

28. Which tools does your agency currently use for geographic profiling? (Please check all that apply)

1. Crime Analysis Spatial Extension (CASE) Tools

2. CrimeStat III

3. DRAGNET

4. Interactive Offender Profiling System (IOPS)

5. Predator

6. RIGEL Analyst

7. Other (Please Specify)

28. In the past year, what percentage of the time has your agency used geographic profiling for:

1. A Violent Crimes Series

2. A Property Crimes Series

28. In the past year, what percentage of the time have the results of geographic profiling been used by the investigations unit or detective for:

1. A Violent Crimes Series

2. A Property Crimes Series

28. In the past year, what percentage of the time were the results of geographic profiling instrumental in apprehending the offender for:

1. A Violent Crimes Series

2. A Property Crimes Series

28. How useful is geographic profiling as seen by: (1 = Very Useful, 3 = Somewhat Useful, and 5 = Never Useful)?

1. Patrol Officers

2. Detectives

3. Community Policing Officers

4. Command Staff

5. Chief of Police / Sheriff

28. Which geographic profiling technique(s) does your agency find effective? (Please check all that apply)

1. Centregraphic

2. Distance Decay

3. Other (Please Specify)

4. None

28. Does your agency support continued use of geographic profiling?

1. Yes

2. No

28. For which of the following does your agency use computerized crime mapping? (Please check all that apply)

1. For Training Purposes

2. For Deployment Decisions

3. In Daily Reports Daily Reports

4. For Evaluation/Assessment

5. To Identify Crime Patterns and Trends

6. Program Planning

7. To Inform Policy Development

8. For Directed Patrol

9. For Resource Allocations

10. To Inform Community Policing Efforts

11. Other (Please Specify)

28. How are the results of computerized crime mapping distributed within your agency? (Please check all that apply)

1. Upon Request

2. Formal Reports

3. Periodic Memos and Bulletins

4. Formal Meetings

5. Intranet Website

6. E-mail Distribution

7. Bulletin Board

8. Roll Call

9. There is no within-agency distribution

10. Other (Please Specify)

28. How often are computerized crime maps provided on a regularly-scheduled basis to command staff in a structured meeting to facilitate allocation of law enforcement resources?

1. Daily

2. Weekly

3. Every Two Weeks

4. Every Month

5. Every Two Months

6. Quarterly

7. Twice a Year

8. Yearly

9. Never

28. Does your agency’s command staff use the results of computerized crime mapping to evaluate the effectiveness of these allocation decisions and/or strategies?

1. Yes

2. No

28. Do patrol officers in your agency use computerized crime mapping in their patrol vehicles to view or create maps?

1. Yes, to view crime maps

2. Yes, to create crime maps

3. Yes, to both view and create crime maps

4. No

28. Which external data sources does your agency currently use for geographic information? (Please check all that apply)

1. City Planning

2. U.S. Census

3. Local Housing Authority

4. Utilities

5. Property Assessment / Parcels

6. Transportation / Street Centerlines

7. Educational Data

8. Health (including Emergency Room)

9. Treatment Programs

10. Business Listings

11. Liquor License Commission

12. Medical Examiner

13. Other (Please Specify)

14. None

28. How does your agency edit computerized mapping files for accuracy? (Please check all that apply)

1. Using address verification function in dispatch system

2. Using address verification in records management system

3. Using manual editing

4. Other (Please Specify)

5. Maps are not edited

28. How often does your agency update reference (i.e. geographic data ‘base’) files used for computerized crime mapping?

1. Monthly

2. Quarterly

3. Yearly

4. Other (Please Specify)

5. Reference files are not updated

28. For which years does your agency currently have geocoded crime incident data?

1. ___________ through ____________

28. What is the purge date from the time of collection for archived geocoded crime incident data?

1. 1 Year

2. 2 Years

3. 5 Years

4. 10 Years

5. Other (Please Specify)

6. There is no purge date

28. Who is responsible for responding to outside requests for computerized crime maps? (Please check all that apply)

1. Crime Analysis Unit

2. Patrol Officers

3. Detectives

4. Command Staff

5. Chief of Police / Sheriff

6. Police Commissioner

7. Mayor’s Office

8. City Council

9. Other City Officials

10. Community Groups

11. Other (Please Specify)

12. No one is designated to respond to requests

28. Is your agency currently involved in a multi-agency effort to share / integrate data for mapping purposes?

1. Yes

2. No (Please skip to Question #51 )

28. What is the coverage of your agency’s data sharing / integration?

1. Regional (across states)

2. Regional (within state)

3. Statewide

4. Countywide

5. Other (Please Specify)

28. From whom does your agency seek data for data sharing efforts? (Please check all that apply)

1. Universities / Colleges

2. Private consultants

3. State Statistical Analysis Centers

4. State Department of Corrections

5. County / Local Jails

6. Public Defender

7. Bureau of Motor Vehicles

8. State/County Court System

9. Juvenile Court / County Services

10. Other emergency service providers

11. Other law enforcement agencies

12. Other (Please Specify)

13. None

28. What outside agencies seek data from your agency for data sharing efforts? (Please check all that apply)

1. Universities / Colleges

2. Private consultants

3. Statistical analysis centers

4. Department of Corrections

5. Public Defender

6. Bureau of Motor Vehicles

7. State court system

8. Juvenile services

9. Other emergency service providers

10. Other law enforcement agencies

11. Other (Please Specify)

12. None

28. Please rate each of the following factors according to the extent to which they have a negative impact on your agency’s ability to engage in computerized crime mapping, where 1 = No Problem and 5 = Serious Problem

1. Limited computer hardware

2. Limited financial resources

3. Limited time

4. Limited experience working with mapping software

5. Limited interest from administration

6. Limited interest from support staff

7. Difficulties with computer software

8. Limited access to geocoded data

9. No need due to small department size

10. No need due to external organization already conducting crime mapping

11. Other (Please Specify)

28. Within your agency, how useful is the work of crime analysts as seen by: (1 = Very Useful, 3 = Somewhat Useful, and 5 = Never Useful)?

1. Patrol Officers

2. Detectives

3. Community Policing Officers

4. Command Staff

5. Chief of Police / Sheriff

28. Does your agency plan to purchase equipment or software for computerized crime mapping within the next year?

1. Yes

2. No

28. Additional Comments: