Crime Mapping & Analysis Program

Courses in 2008

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CMAP currently offers two crime mapping courses: Crime Mapping and Analysis using GIS and Tactical and Operational Crime Analysis using GIS. The two courses are geared toward professionals in the field of investigations, crime or intelligence analysis and provide a strong emphasis on the analysis of law enforcement data and topics.

Crime Mapping and Analysis using GIS

This 5-day course introduces the concepts of crime mapping, demonstrates the relationship between crime mapping and crime analysis, and presents many of the technical issues of implementation that are encountered in beginning a crime mapping effort. The course walks students through lessons using an adult learning process called “Watch – Follow – Do.” Students watch as the instructor demonstrates the process, then, follow along with the instructor as they perform the lesson together. Afterward, the students practice the lesson by performing it against their agency’s geographic and crime data. This method, and fact that pupils use the real-world data with which they are familiar, and will use daily upon return to their agencies, makes for a very productive training course. The final part of this course focuses on an applied project in which students take what they have learned and apply it toward the analysis of a specific crime problem in their jurisdiction. Each student then presents and defends their findings to the class. The highly interactive, hands-on approach provides the student the forum, environment, and equipment for an agency to complete a specific project while providing the support and direction of a successful end product.

Students receive training on the following topics:

• basemaps

• geocoding

• police boundaries

• redistricting

• temporal analysis

• data acquisition and management

• pin (point symbol) mapping

• pattern analysis

• hot spot analysis

• choropleth mapping

• buffer analysis

• layouts/presentations

Tactical and Operational Analysis using GIS

This is also a 5-day course. It is very fast-paced and intensive, and is taught using ArcGIS 9.2.  Training topics include:

• point pattern analysis

• density-based field analysis & distance-decay field analysis

• spatiotemporal integration

• Lund space-time trajectories

• applied spatiotemporal profiling

• movement-based event forecasting

The Tactical and Operational Analysis course is appropriate for those who have substantial experience using the software program and are interested in learning more in-depth techniques to apply to tactical or operational crime analysis.

Classes are taught at our lab located at the University of Denver in Denver, CO, and at SCRA in Charleston, SC. The courses are federally funded and offered free of charge to state and local Public Safety personnel on behalf of The National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC).  Attendees are responsible for all other associated costs, such as transportation, lodging and meals. 

CMAP Lab-Denver
Our 8 seat lab has a touch-screen interactive Smart Board and Robotel System.