OFF THE WIRE
Cutting-edge mapping technology used to take on violent gaxxx in the US could
assist South Australian crime fighters in the state’s bikie war, according to a
visiting international law enforcement expert.
28-year police veteran and
former criminal profiler Mike King – now a law enforcement expert with global
Geographic Information System (GIS) giant Esri – has been invited to Australia
to advise SA police and investigators on how the technology can be used locally
to fight violent crime.
Drawing on US examples, where modern mapping
technology has helped diminish gaxxx crime in a number of cities, Mr King will
discuss how to tackle the state’s recent spate of outlaw bikie-related crime and
fraud.
“gaxxx activity and associated data, when properly recorded and
managed through GIS technology, allows law enforcement agencies to better
understand gaxxx movement, motivation and methodology," said Mr
King.
“Investigators can gain incredibly powerful insights into a
situation when they map behavioral and physical factors with other data sources,
such as gaxxx boundaries or turfs, demographics and crime
statistics.
“This provides police commanders with authoritative,
actionable intelligence that can be used to accurately track the criminal
activities and movements of gaxxx members.
“For example, in Ogden, Utah,
GIS technology was part of a police response that led to new laws making gaxxx
member associations illegal.
“After several months of monitoring the
situation with the technology and increasing police effort, crime and gaxxx
related incidents were reduced substantially.
“There is no reason why the
same approach would not work to address the bikie wars and gaxxx problems here
in South Australia.”
Mr King is in Adelaide this week for the Directions
2013 seminar, a GIS technology showcase hosted by Esri Australia, the market
leader in Australia’s $2.1 billion spatial industry.
During an address to
more than 200 of the region’s leading spatial experts, he said Australian law
enforcement agencies might consider adopting some of the techniques and models
used by their counterparts in the US including the use of GIS technology to
construct a national criminal database.
“Too often different policing
agencies have distinct jurisdictions in which they collect and manage
crime-related data,” Mr King said.
“Offenders certainly aren’t concerned
with state boundaries however – and law enforcement agencies’ ability to know of
similar crimes in adjacent states or disciplines is limited if they can’t easily
draw on intelligence and data beyond these borders.
“In the US –where we
have more than 18,000 law enforcement agencies, we face similar challenges and
have found that the more we share intelligence, the more successful we are in
combating criminal activity.
“Relevant crime-related information can be
instantly accessed via a digital map, where it can be analysed and translated
into actionable intelligence by various agencies.
“This way it doesn’t
matter if a suspect crosses borders; as all police, nation-wide, have access to
the same, up-do-date picture of a criminal’s activities and history – so they
can quickly determine how best to respond.
“Because there are fewer
jurisdictional units here in Australia, the task of using GIS technology to
bring the country’s data together in a more usable way is certainly within
reach.”
