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Title:

Using Geographical Information Systems to Effectively Organize Police Patrol Routes by Grouping Hot Spots of Crash and Crime Data
Cover of Using Geographical Information Systems to Effectively Organize Police Patrol Routes by Grouping Hot Spots of Crash and Crime Data

Accession Number:

01504273

Record Type:

Component

Abstract:

Applying Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Traffic Safety (DDACTS) can help police departments allocate limited resources more efficiently. By focusing on hazardous areas, highly visible traffic law enforcement can reduce crime and crashes simultaneously. Many studies have focused on the reduction of crime and crashes after applying new patrol routes, but few have been able to estimate the change or improvement in police dispatch time. The objective of this study was to compare the police dispatch time between two conditions: (1) Police patrol routes with organized hotspots; and (2) Police patrol route patterns without focusing on hotspots. The study used data obtained from within the city limits serviced by the College Station Police Department. Crime and crash data were collected between January 2005 and September 2010, which included 65,461 offense reports and 14,712 crash reports. The study procedure contains four steps: (1) Geocoding data; (2) Defining hot spots; (3) Organizing best patrol routes; and, (4) Estimating effectiveness. ESRI ArcGIS 10 was used for the data analysis. The results indicate that using DDACTS principles can potentially reduce police dispatch time by 13% and 17%, using the top five, and top 10 hot-spot routes, respectively. This study provides a step-by-step procedure that shows how to calculate the change in dispatch time. The procedure can be used by law enforcement agencies to estimate whether the DDACTS protocols of using crash and crime data can simultaneously be an effective tool for reducing law enforcement dispatch times.

Supplemental Notes:

Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

Monograph Accession #:

01501394

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Kuo, Pei-Fen
Lord, Dominique
Walden, Troy Duane

Pagination:

19p

Publication Date:

2011

Conference:

3rd International Conference on Road Safety and Simulation

Location: Indianapolis Indiana, United States
Date: 2011-9-14 to 2011-9-16
Sponsors: Purdue University; Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

Digital/other

Features:

Figures; Maps; References; Tables

Geographic Terms:

College Station (Texas)

Subject Areas:

Data and Information Technology; Highways; Safety and Human Factors; I81: Accident Statistics

Files:

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Created Date:

Jan 23 2014 1:20PM