Crime Mapping and Spatial Aspects of Crime, 2nd Edition

This first-of-its-kind text provides comprehensive coverage of the theoretical and practical aspects of crime mapping as well as hands-on instruction in the practical use of GIS for the spatial analyses of crime data.

The last five years have seen a dramatic increase in law enforcement agencies that are using GIS and crime mapping, and the federal government has boosted support to law enforcement agencies conducting crime mapping. The demand for crime mapping education and training continues to grow, but a void has existed in textbook materials to support these training efforts–until now.

Crime Mapping and Spatial Aspects of Crime, 2/e is the first text specifically designed to teach the theoretical and practical aspects of mapping for criminal justice purposes. First, the text provides a solid understanding of the theoretical and empirical realities of the spatial aspects of crime. Second, the text provides students with the practical tools necessary to conduct effective crime mapping and spatial analyses of crime. This text covers the most current, state-of-the-art uses for GIS in the criminal justice system, theoretical aspects of the geography of crime and practical instruction, and exercises on how to use GIS to conduct crime mapping and spatial analysis of crime.

Hallmark Features

• “Focus” boxes in nearly every chapter highlight important people along with issues in the spatial aspects of crime.

• Case studies in nearly every chapter provide real-world examples of how spatial aspects of crime impacts crime and the criminal justice system.

• Each chapter closes with a review of research findings their practical implications.

• A discussion of behavioral geography and the geography of crime in Chapter 5 covers an increasingly important, but seldom covered, area of research.

• Issues of liability and ethics in the use of crime mapping within the criminal justice sytem are included in Chapter 8.

• Section III of the text is a complete GIS workbook that includes instruction, exercises, and sample data, and shows students how to use industry-leading GIS software to conduct spatial analyses of crime. Organized with beginners in mind, the workbook provides students with an understanding of a full range of topics from entering data into a GIS to advanced spatial analysis methods such as hot spot analysis and density mapping.

• An author-maintained Web site offers the latest versions of GIS software and other resources. Visit www.ablongman.com/paulsen1e.