Tech helps tackle criminals

Policing effectiveness set to increase

Solutions company, ST Group has launched Pitney Bowes Business Insight’s MapInfo Crime Profiler, an automated crime analysis and visualisation solution for police forces and security companies.

“From serious and violent crimes such as hi-jacking and armed robbery, to the so-called ‘white collar’ crimes of financial fraud in such sectors as banking, insurance and telecommunications, this type of misconduct can be not only very unpleasant and traumatic on a personal level, but is severely affecting the welfare of our economy, in already tight financial times,” says Alan Ellis, CEO of ST Group.

“MapInfo Crime Profiler is expected to play a major role in helping improve not only public safety and crowd management, but also policing effectiveness in South Africa,” he states.

“As a result, we are now able to assist local authorities and the private sector to better understand and more effectively respond to the nature and scale of crime in their neighbourhoods and in their businesses.”

Crime mapping tools that automate basic statistical processing tasks are essential to enable crime analysts to provide support in investigations and operations. MapInfo Crime Profiler automates much of the statistical legwork behind crime analysis and visualisation.

According to Ian Broadbent, strategic industry manager at Pitney Bowes Business Insight in the UK, automation is necessary to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of crucial analytical output.

The new solution allows the analyst to choose from automated options that include:
•Multiple real-time hot-spotting options and kernel density visualisation;
•Integrated 3D imagery including CCTV footage;
•User-specified temporal analysis (contrasting day/night or other time profiles);
•Automatic graphing and mapping creation, linking and updates; and
•Automated data, table and workspace utilities.