Geographic Profiling and Geographic Information Systems in the Study and Investigation of Crime

Abstract

The research of a criminal’s movements and the identification of his key locations is a complex task for both criminology and criminalistics. The analysis of publications shows that geographical profiling can be viewed simultaneously as an interdisciplinary field of knowledge, as a method for obtaining orienting diagnostic information about the criminal, and as a process of corresponding analytical activity; besides, the number of geographical profiling objects grows with time: the place of residence is supplemented by other anchor points where the criminal might spend time. The author states that in some cases geographical profiling methods might be effective for identifying the criminal who committed a single crime, and not necessarily a series of crimes. The theoretical foundations of geographical profiling are examined, they include the theory of routine activities, rational choice, crime patters, circle, and also attenuation with an increase of distance. Normative and criminalistic approaches to geoinformation systems are analyzed. The author presents a description of key software complexes that have geographical profiling as their dominant or one of their dominant features, including Rigel, Dragnet, Crimestat, Predator and Gemini. Main drawbacks of these programs are examined: an orientation at a large number of similar crimes, supposed stable composition of a criminal group, a small number of different groups of criminals and a small area of the territory under analysis, region-based linking to databases. It is also possible to use non-core geoinformation services for modelling a criminal’s movements, for instance, for determining the direction of pursuit while the trail is still hot or for verifying evidence. This information includes a criminal’s access to private or public transport, characteristics of outdoor surveillance systems, the volume and weight of a criminal’s assets, including stolen assets, dirt on their face or clothes, their emotional condition. The author concludes that it is necessary to simultaneously develop state-owned geoinformation systems reflecting data on crime in general as well as specific crimes, and similar private special-purpose projects.