Did GIS Start a Crime Wave? SatNav Theft and Its Implications for Geo-Information Engineering

Abstract

In-car satellite navigation systems (SatNavs) are among the first products based on geographic information systems to have widespread fashionable appeal. In the United Kingdom, portable versions that are easily installed on the dashboard or front windshield have become a popular vehicle accessory. As prices have fallen, demand has increased over the last few years to the point that SatNavs might soon achieve the ubiquity of in-car entertainment systems. The rise of popularity of SatNavs, however, has also brought with it increased vulnerability to vehicle crime. Our analysis for the London borough of Newham shows a threefold increase in SatNav theft that occurred from 2005-2006 to 2006-2007. This is not limited to SatNavs being on display, but criminals also looking for the telltale signs of suction marks on the windshield indicating that a portable SatNav might be in the glove compartment or trunk of the car. A geographical analysis of these crime data is presented. Whereas the geo-engineering has focused on improving real-time visualization of position and articulation of navigational instructions, the product engineering as a portable accessory has insufficiently addressed the social implications of vulnerability in a high-crime society, the consequence being a focused acquisitive crime wave. Key Words: crime, geo-information engineering, routine activity, SatNav, spatial analysis, United Kingdom, urban geography.Los sistemas satelitales de navegación para carros (SatNavs) figuran entre los primeros productos basados en sistemas de información geográfica que han logrado una amplia aceptación como cosa de moda. En el Reino Unido las versiones portátiles que pueden instalarse fácilmente en el panel de control o en el parabrisas delantero del vehículo se han convertido en un accesorio muy popular. En tanto que los precios bajaban la demanda aumentó en losúltimos años hasta el punto de que pronto los SatNavs podrían llegar a ser ubicuos como sistemas de entretenimiento a bordo de los carros. El aumento de la popularidad de los SatNavs, sin embargo, también ha acarreado un incremento en vulnerabilidad para el crimen vehicular. Nuestro análisis del burgo londinense de Newham muestra un aumento del robo de SatNavs al triple en el lapso de 2005-2006 a 2006-2007. Esta acción criminal no se limita a los SatNavs visibles sino que los criminales también están en alerta por indicios como las marcas de succión del parabrisas que indican la posible existencia de un SatNav portátil en la guantera o en el baúl del carro. El estudio presenta un análisis geográfico de estos datos de

Environmental criminology, design, and victimization: What we know, how we have failed, and where we need to go

“…With regard to victimization, the routine activity approach directly refers to suitable targets. In fact, one of the primary interests of Cohen and Felson (1979) are the increases in target suitability in the post-1950s era, particularly in the development of (relatively) lightweight electronics that continues to impact crime patterns today (Mailley et al, 2008;Whitehead and Farrell, 2008;Brimicombe, 2012). However, in their empirical assessment, Cohen and Felson (1979) found that changes in routine activities were the drivers of increases in crime patterns.…”

Tables and graphs for monitoring temporal crime trends

“…The town has a large enough college presence to show marked increases when students come to and leave town. A problem crime is frequently thefts of small electronics from motor vehicles (Brimicombe, 2012), with a large proportion being from unlocked vehicles. Increases in thefts from motor vehicles throughout 2012 brought increased attention to community groups and the media, and the thefts precipitously decreased to 10-year lows beginning in 2013 after one prolific offender was apprehended, who later admitted to around 40 thefts in the prior 2 months.…”

Analysing Police-Recorded Data

“…In general, the objective of research using police-recorded data is not to focus on specific individuals per se but to identify aggregate patterns that provide new understanding and suggest interventions or solutions to problems. Two different documented examples of this type of approach are: a) an analysis of the upsurge in SatNav theft from the beginning of 2006 given in Brimicombe (2012), and b) an analysis of offender histories of those arrested in the London riots of 2011 given in Stanko and Dawson (2012).…”

“…a violent altercation outside a pub) or, say, at a road junction. This forms the basis of 'hotspot' mapping allowing police to focus their resources on those locations that have highest intensities of crime (Harries, 1999;Brimicombe, 2012). The data on victims and perpetrators can be further filtered by gender, age, ethnicity and offence/incident category in order to study specific patterns of activity.…”