Map from the Wall Street Journal online
Targeting the
drug epidemic is critical as there is a direct correlation to violent
crimes. However, traditional drug enforcement methods have not
been successful in battling the drug market. These traditional
methods, which consisted of stopping citizens in the streets and
questioning them was counterproductive, as it resulted in citizens
becoming weary of law enforcement and disinclined to help. In High
Point, North Carolina the police department embraced a new method
which implemented the use of spatial data to create a focused
deterrence model. This was built from a
modification of a model used by Boston's Violent Crime Task Force.
The goal of this model is to target specific areas where there is a
high density and correlation between the drug market and violent
crimes. Once the area and the offending dealers are know. The hope is
that the community and the offending drug dealers will work with the
police department to alleviate crime in the area.
Unlike previous approaches to
alleviate drug crimes, this method did not ask the question “Where
are the drug markets”, it instead asked “Where are the densities
of violent, sex, or weapons crimes that may be spatially concurrent
with drug sales?” This questions reinforces the relationship of
dealing drugs to violent crimes. To answer these questions GIS was
used to generate a series of crime density maps based on a year of
data. The data included 911 calls, drug arrests, field contacts, and
a category of serious crimes which included; murder, rape, robbery,
aggravated assault, weapons, sex, and prostitution. Collected data
was converted to point data consisting of addresses. This data was
geographically related using point features and each point included
attributes on date and time, address, nature of offense, and XY
coordinates. The data was then used to analyze dealer locations,
distribution of dealers within the market, relationship between
dealer location and crime. However, one alteration to the
methodology would be to use more selective 911 data, for instance,
only calls related to drugs, guns, and persons crimes . The 911 data
applied to the High Point model was not selective enough and
overwhelmed the density portion of the map with non-applicable
results.
Each layer was used to create a different kernel density map; a map of 911 calls, a map of drug arrest, a map of field contacts, and a map of serious crimes. The kernel density used a 1,000 foot radius that clustered nearby offenses. Interestingly the four different density maps did not show a similar pattern and had a significant difference. Each map and the density clusters of each map were analyzed separately in a process called “unpacking” this process closely looks at the relationship of the layers crime and drugs. Unpacking the data eliminated many of the areas as possible targets of the deterrence model. The dated was when overlayed with each layer and the chosen area was the West End neighborhood.
The spatial data showed that the West
End neighborhood had a high volume of crime associated to the drug
market. Further analysis of this neighborhood reveled that it had a
“small local 'drug' market in equilibrium” this means that the
drug market consisted of walk-up and curbside drive through drug
transactions and that the market was not expanding or getting
smaller. A list of known street level dealers was compiled and an
unique approach was taken. They were given a choice; accept the help
of the community to stop dealing and find alternative employment or
education, or be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. This
was known as the “call in” phase of the model. Notified dealers
were given a set time period when there decision had to be made.
The results of this model were said to be a drastic and immediate. The success of the model reeds like an ending to a “Happier Ever After” novel
“The West end drug market vanished overnight. Dealers and prostitutes
were no longer present in the area.” “The character of the neighborhood
changed immediately; residents ventured outside again, children
played in the playground, people cared for their property”
The goals of this project
were met, and perhaps even surpassed, resulting in long term
improvements. The alleviation of drug related crimes in this area
allowed the police department to tackle other pressing criminal
matters. This is a model that could be applied to many concentrated
areas across the US and abroad. The use of GIS to alleviate crime
allowed law enforcement to sift deeper into the root of the problem
and became more “data-driven”, using GIS data to evaluate and
eliminate crime hot-spots.
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