Mesa police at 'cutting edge' in crime mapping

by Diana Wenner
Independent Newspapers
October 8, 2002

   A statewide survey by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission (ACJC) has shown that while crime mapping is an efficient tool in fighting crime, it is underused by Arizona police agencies, according to a release from ACJC.
   "Crime mapping is important to the criminal justice community and the citizens we serve because effective and reliable information can be shared between agencies in a way that protects the community, allows departments to properly allocate resources and even helps to predict crime activity," according to the release.
   The study found "in Arizona only 14.5 percent of criminal justice agencies are applying crime mapping technologies within their own jurisdictions ... (but) 95.2 percent of the respondents indicated a willingness to contribute data to a regional analysis center."
  The Mesa Police Department (MPD) has been using various crime mapping techniques for eight years, according to Peter Garza, crime analyst for MPD.
   "(We use it) to try to find crime trends in the city, for allocation of resources ... for various administrative purposes, for community projects like Neighborhood Watch groups or Community Action Teams," Mr. Garza said. "We supply them with information and crime maps to help the community get a visual picture of crime going on in their area."
   Mr. Garza said he believes police agencies in the Valley are using crime mapping, while smaller, rural agencies are not.
   "Mesa is on the cutting edge as far as the GIS (Geographic Information Systems) we use," Mr. Garza said. "I think crime mapping is important because it provides another analytical approach to decision making. If you can see how various pieces of geography relate to each other, you can make more informed decisions about the size of the beats you need, identifying a crime trend based on proximity of crimes to one another ... it's another important tool for the police department."
   Mr. Garza agrees that there needs to be more communication between police agencies, as stated in the ACJC study.
   "That's what we'd like to see occur; we'd like to see it become more formalized," he said.
   To see a copy of the ACJC Crime Mapping in Arizona 2002 report, visit www.acjc.state.az.us.
   To see crime mapping and statistics for the Mesa Police Department, visit www.Mesaaz.gov/police and click on Crime Statistics.
   Efforts to reach the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office regarding crime mapping were unsuccessful.