Lecture 10: Geographic Profiling Flashcards
what I GP
- An investigative methodology used to determine the most probable location of an offender’s anchor point, (usually their residence), by analysing crime related spatial and temporal data
o Used to try and prioritise an area / anchor point
o Temporal and spactial activity of offences - Supports single incident and series of crime
WHAT needs t be known to GP
- What time of date it happened
- Route they took after crime eg what way they moved after
- Where the offences took place
what type of cases do GPs usually do
Vast majority of cases Foucses on serial crime and geographic software not the core of cases in the UK (85%) where offences are usually single cases (so cant use the software) distorted picture
what is the work from GP also used in
- Animal hunting behavioural activity
- Sourcing origins of disease
o London 1953 cholera outbreak
what is the only certainty in offending
The only certainty in a crime of a violent/sexual nature is that the offender and victim come together at a time and location. ‘Everything happens somewhere’
what are the theories of GP
least effort principle distance decay routine activity theory the brantinghams crime site selection model rational choice theory
who created the least effort principle
zipf 1950
describe the least effort principle
- Laziness of humans
- Zipf 1950
- Different opportunities, all equal, tend to always go for the closest one
- ‘Everything else being equal we will use least effort’
o Find out why the encompass the least effort - Applicable in Non-Criminal and Criminal Behaviour.
what is distance decay
- We don’t always do things in the same place, but seem to have a certain distance that you are willing to go
- Looking at criminals and criminal acitivity around this
- Model looks at how far criminals go from their home to their crime
o Aggregated data - Buffer zone (green)
o Don’t always like to commit crime too close to home people know them etc
In distance decay, what is meant by a biuffer zone
don’t always commit a crime to close to the home, as people will know the criminal
what is routine activity theory
- Criminals are non-criminal In many things they do (eg eating sleeping)
- To commit a crime you have to have these three things
o 3 things together= crime opportunity
o Often doing a routine activity (non-crimnal) when commit a crime
who created routine activity theory
- Cohen and felson 1979
what are the 3 things needed to commit a crime according to the routine activity theory
motivated offender
suitable target
lack of capable guardian
what are the three anchor points according to brantinghams crime site selection model
- 3 anchor points (important locations)
o Home
o Work
o Recreation
what is brantinghams crime site selection model
- Crimes tend to be located around anchor points and the journeys between the routes
describe the rational choice theory
- Crimes are outcomes of choices made by offenders o Involvement & Planning o Execution & Opportunity - Cost/Benefit analysis o Goals, Resources & Risk - Factors affecting rationality o State of mind - Individual differences - choices change over time o Knowledge and Experience - Changes on each occasion
what factors affect rationality
state of mind
individual diff
motivation
knowledge and experienes
what motivates crime
- Patterning of crime = physical and mental components
- Motivation
- Opportunity
- Mobility
- Perception
why does GP work
Geographic profiling works because criminal behaviour and human movement are not random processes
how Is the brain involed in criminals areas that they commit crimes
Sense of place and the ability to navigate are fundamental to our existence, the sense of place gives a perception of position in the environment
- Hippocampus
- Entohinal cortes
name some softwares that GPs use
- Eg dragnet canter
- Rigels software
- Colours= likely hood of areas where the anchor points are from where the crimes were committed
o Red most likely anchor points
o Gives prioritisation of homes (peak area) where the criminals anchor poits are
how can cctv assist GP
- Help identify pre and post offence movement of the offender
- Eg if post offence heading the opposite way to was following the victim, then might suggest his home is in that area towards walking
Not only finding out where they live but also finding out if they are a commuter
WHAT DID canter 1994 say about GP
- Hunter near hme base
- Or commuter travels to a location away from their home base
- Or a fishing hole (Norris 1988)
what did colin Sutton describe GP as
‘Geographic profiling a serial criminal makes a lot more sense than the more traditional psychological profiling… Geographic profiling is a much more exact science that can help target resources and enquiries into a specific place.’
