Integrating GIS, GPS and MIS on the Web: EMPACT in Florida

Abstract

Computer applications for conducting complex spatial analysis of crime data are widely used by law enforcement agencies. By combining sophisticated geographic information systems with global positioning satellite tracking devices, a new tool is emerging that will remove the criminal anonymity of probationers, parolees and offenders on pretrial release. Every year, an ever-increasing number of offenders are set free on either probation or parole within our nation’s communities. As the number of offenders on our streets grows, the need for the criminal justice system to hold these offenders accountable and exert some level of control also increases. Florida’s Electronic Monitoring Protection and Crime Tracking (EMPACT) project is breaking new ground in an effort to use technology as an effective way to remove the anonymity of crime. Through the automated correlation of GPS tracking data and local crime incident data, participating criminal justice agencies are able to determine if a tracked offender was at the scene of a crime when it occurred. In addition, because EMPACT uses a Web-based interface, participating agencies also have access to each other’s data. This creates a crime-mapping environment where crime analysts and investigators have the opportunity to evaluate, at the click of a button, multi-jurisdictional crime patterns and offender track data.