Foreclosures and Crime: A Geographical Perspective – Volume 1, Issue 3 of the Geography and Public Safety Bulletin

The Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety (MAPS) program at NIJ and the Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS) office would like to announce the third issue of the Geography and Public Safety Bulletin. This newsletter will be useful for all police practitioners who are interested in geography and its relationship to crime. Additionally, researchers, policymakers, and others may be interested in reading it to better understand the impact of geography on public safety. Readers will  also find practical articles on how to use geographic information systems (GIS), including technical tips and techniques. Issue 3 of Geography and Public Safety examines how the nationwide home foreclosure crisis is affecting crime, police practice, and public policy from a geographic perspective. Articles show that GIS can assess how foreclosures influence crime trends and improve city cleanup of graffiti and blight. Additionally, the issue describes the tenets of the broken windows policing theory, and how this theory explains why police and public planners must react quickly, before crime has a chance to escalate. The articles bring to the fore how the varying geography within a metropolitan area, as well as across metropolitan areas, has an impact on understanding the patterns that are occurring and how to approach the problem.

The publication is available in electronic format at:

http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/maps/bulletin.htm

Sincerely,
Ronald E. Wilson
Program Manager
Mapping & Analysis for Public Safety Program and Data Resources
@ the National Institute of Justice
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/maps/
810 7th Street, NW
Room 7201
Washington, DC 20531