Measuring Quality of Life with GIS: Moving Beyond Part I Crime by Rebecca A. Colwell University of Minnesota

What you are going to see today… Why police departments assess quality of life How these assessments are commonly Why there is need for alternative approaches The role of GIS A Quality of Life Index Case Study: Lincoln, Nebraska determined from crime data

Why do Law Enforcement Agencies need to Determine Quality of Life? FBI - Unified Crime Reports Deployment of police resources Grant allocation Public awareness

What socio-economic factors determine Quality of Life? Cleanliness (i.e. litter, street sweeping) Community Participation Crime rates Culture and Recreation Economy Education Family and Youth Health Housing Infrastructure Natural/Physical/Social Environment Pedestrian Friendliness Population Resource Consumption Responsive Government Safety Transportation

Determining Quality of Life from Law Enforcement Data… What are Part I crimes? How has quality of life been determined in the past? Murder Rape Robbery Aggravated Assault Burglary Larceny Larceny from Auto Arson

Determining Quality of Life from Law Enforcement Data… What also affects quality of life? Flashers Window Peekers Prostitution Child Abuse Violence Broken-Window theory (Wilson & Kelling 1982) “serious street crime flourishes in areas in which disorderly behavior goes unchecked” Community-Oriented Policing Drugs Gangs Residential Burglary Abandoned/Suspicious Vehicles Suicide QOLI is an attempt to depict the craft knowledge street officers often know from their “on the ground” experience about the areas in greatest need of police attention.

Use the Power of GIS to Help Build a Safer Community! I conducted my study with one major objective in mind: to determine the indicators available in law enforcement datasets that reflect the impact of crime on daily living GIS helps stimulate and assist the process Assess available data Incident reports Calls for service records

Data Joins… Joining the calls for service records and incident report data to increase accuracy and efficiency Case numbers serve as the basis of the join Case numbers represent unique and unchanging information about all documented occurrences in Lincoln If a call for service incident results in an incident report, the case number documenting the incident remains the same in both datasets.

Full Outer Joins… Definition: A full outer join is a relational database technique that allows two tables, of matching and nonmatching records, to be combined into one. Not available in popular GIS programs Not to be confused with Left Outer Joins

Use the Power of GIS to Help Build a Safer Community! Excludes crime types that seem to have little connection to neighborhood life Shoplifting Check offenses Commercial burglary Drive-offs from self-service gas pumps Includes crime type codes for Assault Child abuse Residential burglary Vandalism Suicide Drug offenses Query disregards location codes for Medical facilities Treatment centers Correctional facilities Police substations

A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words But only if you know what those words mean… Northeast H.S. Large Supermarket Downtown Retail Stores Police Station All Part I Crime Density Lincoln, NE Jail & Detox center

A Picture Is Worth 1,000 Words Jail & Detox center Police Station Retail Stores Downtown Northeast H.S. Large Supermarket Residential Neighborhoods Quality of Life Index Lincoln, NE

What I saw on the internet… What is this really telling us about these cities?

What I saw on the internet…

What I saw on the internet… Exceptional reporting and explanation of crime data St. Paul, MN Police Department – 2002 Crime Report City of Beaverton – Crime Maps & Statistics “Sometimes, crime statistics can be misleading. They only represent reported crime. In some areas residents do not report crime and in others, almost all crime is reported. If you are using crime statistics to select a new place to live, don't rely on statistics alone. “

Legal disclaimers are not enough… People want to believe what they see on a crime map Explain the data – crime mapping is a tool, not an end Use caution – exercise restraint in interpretation Encourage dialog between administrators and street officers

Quality of Life Index (QOLI) Disclaimers QOLI corrects some of the issues that arise when assessing the effects of crime/disorder on a community, but some issues remain untouched Example: Not all Crimes are the same – larceny counts the same as murder Another consideration would be to introduce other non-police variables into the equation Immunization rates Standardized reading test scores Income Age Family status

The take home message Move beyond Part I offenses when conducting a quality of life analyses Part I offenses such as shoplifting, check offenses, drive-offs from self-service gas pumps, do not adequately reflect quality of life Certain locations act as incident magnets – if left in a quality of life analysis they serve to pinpoint where hospitals, jails and treatment facilities exist within a city, rather than emphasizing the neighborhoods in critical condition Any agency can create a department-specific QOLI based on available data QOLI is not meant to replace the input of community officers, but rather to complement their efforts with a form of community-oriented crime analysis.

colwell@geog.umn.edu