Composite sketch of a hijacker known only by the pseudonym D. A facial composite is a graphical representation of one or more eyewitnesses ' memory of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of (usually serious) crimes.
Composite sketch of a hijacker known only by the pseudonym D. B. Cooper.
A facial composite is a graphical representation of one or more eyewitnesses' memory of a face, as recorded by a composite artist. Facial composites are used mainly by police in their investigation of (usually serious) crimes. These images are used to reconstruct the suspect's face in hope of identifying them.
- 1Methods
Methods[edit]
PhotoFIT generation[edit]
Construction of the composite was originally performed by a trained artist, through drawing, sketching, or painting, in consultation with a witness or crime victim. Subsequently, techniques were devised for use by those less artistically skilled, employing interchangeable templates of separate facial features. The first such mechanical system, called 'Identikit', was introduced in the U.S. in 1959; it used drawings of facial features on transparent acetate sheets that could be superimposed on one another to produce the composite image.[1] (A later version of Identikit is made by Smith & Wesson.) In 1970, a system called 'Photofit', which aimed for greater realism by using actual photographs of facial features, was introduced in the U.K.[1]
In the last two decades, a number of computer based facial composite systems have been introduced; amongst the most widely used systems are SketchCop FACETTE Face Design System Software, 'Identi-Kit 2000', FACES, E-FIT and PortraitPad. In the U.S. the FBI maintains that hand-drawing is its preferred method for constructing a facial composite. Many other police agencies, however, use software, since suitable artistic talent is often not available.
Evolutionary systems[edit]
Until quite recently, the facial composite systems used by international police forces were exclusively based on a construction methodology in which individual facial features (eyes, nose, mouth, eyebrows, etc.) are selected one at a time from a large database and then electronically 'overlaid' to make the composite image. Such systems are often referred to as feature-based since they essentially rely on the selection of individual features in isolation. However, after a long period of research and development work conducted largely within British universities, systems based on a rather different principle are finding increasing use by police forces.[2][3][4] These systems may be broadly described as holistic or global in that they primarily attempt to create a likeness to the suspect through an evolutionary mechanism in which a witness's response to groups of complete faces (not just features) converges towards an increasingly accurate image. Three such systems have come from academic beginnings, EFIT-V from the University of Kent;[5] EvoFIT[6] from the University of Stirling, the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and the University of Winchester;[7] and ID from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. GFE[8] is an experimental evolutionary face compositing system using image gradient instead of luminance to represent faces, which seems to produce better quality composites.[9]
Research[edit]
A general review of research into the evaluation of mechanical template techniques may be found in Davies and Valentine (2006).[10] A review of research into more modern 'feature' and 'recognition' systems, and into methods for improving the effectiveness of composites, may be found in Frowd et al. (2008)[11] and (2009).[12]
The systems used in the UK have been subjected to a number of academic studies. These have typically shown that E-FIT and PRO-fit produce composites that are correctly named, either immediately or a few hours after construction, about 20% of the time (see Brace et al. (2000),[13] Bruce et al. (2002),[14] Davies et al. (2000)[15] and Frowd et al. (2005)[16]). When witnesses in these studies are required to wait two days before constructing a composite, which matches real use more closely, naming falls to a few percent at best (e.g. Frowd et al. [2005][17] and [2007][18][19]). The reason for the low level of naming from these systems appears to be that witnesses are unable to accurately construct the internal features of the face after long delays, the region that is important for recognition by another person later (Frowd et al. [2007][20]).
Evolutionary systems show a marked improvement in accuracy. In academic trials, research on a fairly-recent version of the EvoFIT system has shown correct naming levels of about 30% after a 2-day delay (see Frowd et al., 2010).[21] Using more-recent construction techniques, the performance increased to 45% correct naming (Frowd et al., 2012).[22] Using the very latest system, interview and enhancement techniques, naming of an EvoFIT composite is 74% correct (Frowd et al., 2013).[7] Appropriately, the system does appear to behave more like a face recognition than a face recall system (Frowd et al., 2011)[23] Accompanying the development of EvoFIT have been new approaches in the type of interview administered to eyewitnesses prior to face construction (e.g. Frowd et al., 2012).[24] Similarly in extensive field use EFIT-V has shown a 40% naming rate over an 18-month period with 1000 interviews.[25] The EvoFIT system has been similarly evaluated in formal police field-trials.[26] These evaluations have reported a much higher naming rate for EvoFIT composites but, using the latest interview techniques, a suspect arrest rate of 60%. This latest police field trial has also indicated that an EvoFIT directly leads to the arrest of a suspect and then a conviction in 29% of cases.[27] There have been many notable successes - for example, in this investigation, EvoFIT has directly led to the arrest of a serial rapist.[28][deprecated source]
- A facial composite produced by FACES software
- A facial composite produced by PortraitPad software
Usage[edit]
Facial composite of Aafia Siddiqui, created by the FBI for a wanted poster[29]
While the classic use of the facial composite is the citizen recognizing the face as an acquaintance, there are other ways where a facial composite can prove useful. The facial composite can contribute in law enforcement in a number of ways:
- Identifying the suspect in a wanted poster.
- Additional evidence against a suspect.[citation needed]
- Assisting investigation in checking leads.
- Warning vulnerable population against serial offenders.
Facial composites of various types have been used extensively in those television programs which aim to reconstruct major unsolved crimes with a view to gaining information from the members of the public, such as 'America's Most Wanted' in the US and 'Crimewatch' in the UK.
Notable cases[edit]
These notable cases had facial composites assist in identifying the perpetrator:
- Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
- Niklas Lindgren, also known as 'Hagamannen', a serial sexual assaulter in Umeå.
- Baton Rouge serial killer Derrick Todd Lee.
- Manchester serial rapist Asim Javed.[30][deprecated source]
References[edit]
- ^ abDavies, Graham M.; Valentine, Tim (2006). 'Facial Composites: Forensic Utility and Psychological Research'. In Rod C. L. Lindsay; et al. (eds.). Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology. Vol. 2 Memory for People. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Section, 'Mechanical Systems'. doi:10.4324/9781315805535. ISBN9780805851526 – via Routledge Handbooks Online (2014).
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Hancock, P. J. B.; Bruce, V.; McIntyre, A.; Pitchford, M.; Atkins, R.; et al. (2010). 'Giving crime the 'evo': catching criminals using EvoFIT facial composites'. In Howells, G.; Sirlantzis, K.; Stoica, A.; Huntsberger, T.; Arslan, A. T. (eds.). 2010 IEEE International Conference on Emerging Security Technologies. pp. 36–43. ISBN978-0-7695-4175-4.
- ^Gibson, S. J.; Solomon, C. J.; Maylin, M. I. S.; Clark, C. (2009). 'New methodology in facial composite construction: from theory to practice'. International Journal of Electronic Security and Digital Forensics. 2 (2): 156–168. doi:10.1504/ijesdf.2009.024900.
- ^Solomon, C.; Gibson, S.; Maylin, M. (2009). 'A New Computational Methodology for the Construction of Forensic, Facial Composites'. Computational Forensics. Springer-Verlag LNCS. pp. 67–77. ISBN9783540853022.
- ^Craig Aaen Stockdale (June 1, 2008). 'A (r)evolution in Crime-fighting'. Forensic Magazine.
- ^'EvoFIT - Evolving Facial Composite Imaging'. evofit.co.uk.
- ^ abFrowd, C. D.; Skelton, F.; Hepton, G.; Holden, L.; Minahil, S.; Pitchford, M.; McIntyre, A.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2013). 'Whole-face procedures for recovering facial images from memory'(PDF). Science & Justice. 53 (2): 89–97. doi:10.1016/j.scijus.2012.12.004. PMID23601715.
- ^'Face and Vision Research'. sites.google.com.
- ^García-Zurdo, R. 'Evolving Faces in Gradient Space'. Conference of the British Psychological Society, Cognitive Psychology Section. Barcelona, September 2016.
- ^Davies, G. M.; Valentine, T. (2006). 'Facial composites: Forensic utility and psychological research'. In Lindsay, R. C. L.; Ross, D. F.; Read, J. D.; et al. (eds.). Handbook of Eyewitness Psychology. 2. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum. pp. 59–96. ISBN9780805851526.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Bruce, V.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2008). 'Changing the face of criminal identification'. The Psychologist. 21 (8): 670–672.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Bruce, V.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2009). 'Evolving facial composite systems'. Forensic Update. 98: 25–32.
- ^Brace, N.; Pike, G.; Kemp, R. (2000). 'Investigating E-FIT using famous faces'. In Czerederecka, A.; Jaskiewicz-Obydzinska, T.; Wojcikiewicz, J. (eds.). Forensic Psychology and Law. Krakow Institute of Forensic Research Publishers. pp. 272–276. ISBN978-0-470-09623-9.
- ^Bruce, V.; Ness, H.; Hancock, P. J. B.; Newman, C.; Rarity, J. (2002). 'Four heads are better than one: Combining face composites yields improvements in face likeness'(PDF). Journal of Applied Psychology. 87 (5): 894–902. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.87.5.894. hdl:1893/131.
- ^Davies, G. M.; Van Der Willie, P.; Morrison, L. J. (2000). 'Facial composite production: A comparison of mechanical and computer driven systems'. Journal of Applied Psychology. 85 (1): 119–124. doi:10.1037/0021-9010.85.1.119. PMID10740962.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Carson, D.; Ness, H.; Richardson, J.; Morrison, L.; McLanaghan, S.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2005). 'A forensically valid comparison of facial composite systems'. Psychology, Crime & Law. 11 (1): 33–52. doi:10.1080/10683160310001634313.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Carson, D.; Ness, H.; McQuiston, D.; Richardson, J.; Baldwin, H.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2005). 'Contemporary composite techniuqes: the impact of a forensically-relevant target delay'. Legal and Criminological Psychology. 10 (1): 63–81. doi:10.1348/135532504X15358.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Bruce, V.; Ness, H.; Bowie, L.; Thomson-Bogner, C.; Paterson, J.; McIntyre, A.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2007). 'Parallel approaches to composite production'. Ergonomics. 50 (4): 562–585. doi:10.1080/00140130601154855. hdl:1893/719. PMID17575715.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; McQuiston-Surrett, D.; Anandaciva, S.; Ireland, C. E.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2007). 'An evaluation of US systems for facial composite production'. Ergonomics. 50 (12): 1987–1998. doi:10.1080/00140130701523611. hdl:1893/311. PMID18033611.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Bruce, V.; McIntyre, A.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2007). 'The relative importance of external and internal features of facial composites'. British Journal of Psychology. 98 (1): 61–77. doi:10.1348/000712606X104481. hdl:1893/326.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Pitchford, M.; Bruce, V.; Jackson, S.; Hepton, G.; Greenall, M.; McIntyre, A.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2010). 'The psychology of face construction: giving evolution a helping hand'. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 25 (2): 195–203. doi:10.1002/acp.1662.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Skelton, F.; Atherton, C.; Pitchford, M.; Hepton, G.; Holden, L.; McIntyre, A.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2012). 'Recovering faces from memory: the distracting influence of external facial features'(PDF). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. 18 (2): 224–238. doi:10.1037/a0027393. hdl:1893/3584. PMID22545929.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Skelton, F.; Butt, N.; Hassan, A.; Fields, S. (2011). 'Familiarity effects in the construction of facial-composite images using modern software systems'(PDF). Ergonomics. 54 (12): 1147–1158. doi:10.1080/00140139.2011.623328. PMID22103723.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Nelson, L.; Skelton, F. C.; Noyce, R.; Atkins, R.; Heard, P.; Morgan, D.; Fields, S.; Henry, J.; McIntyre, A.; Hancock, P. J. B. (2012). 'Interviewing techniques for Darwinian facial composite systems'. Applied Cognitive Psychology. 26 (4): 576–584. doi:10.1002/acp.2829.
- ^Solomon, C.; Gibson, S.; Maylin, M. (2012-05-03). 'Generation of Facial Composites for Criminal Investigations'. In Rynn, Chris (ed.). Craniofacial Identification. Cambridge University Press. pp. 67–77. ISBN9780521768627.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Hancock, P. J. B.; Bruce, V.; Skelton, F. C.; Atherton, C.; Nelson, L.; et al. (2011). 'Catching more offenders with EvoFIT facial composites: lab research and police field trials'. Global Journal of Human Social Science. 11 (3): 46–58.
- ^Frowd, C. D.; Pitchford, M.; Skelton, F.; Petkovic, A.; Prosser, C.; Coates, B. (2012). 'Catching Even More Offenders with EvoFIT Facial Composites'. In Stoica, A.; Zarzhitsky, D.; Howells, G.; Frowd, C.; McDonald-Maier, K.; Erdogan, A.; Arslan, T. (eds.). IEEE Proceedings of 2012 Third International Conference on Emerging Security Technologies. pp. 20–26. doi:10.1109/EST.2012.26. ISBN978-0-7695-4791-6.
- ^Jaya Narain (27 July 2011). 'The changing face of crime: Powerful new Evo-fit technology helps catch rapist'. Daily Mail. London.
- ^Scroggins, Deborah (March 1, 2005). 'The Most Wanted Woman in the World'(Limited access, subscription required). Vogue, reprinted by 'Access My Library'.
- ^Narain, Jaya (July 27, 2011). 'The changing face of crime: Powerful new Evo-fit technology helps catch rapist'. Daily Mail. London.
Retrieved from 'https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Facial_composite&oldid=936284005'
Analysis of Competing Hypotheses Software -- http://www2.parc.com/istl/projects/ach/ach.html
Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH) is a simple model for how to think about a complex problem when the available information is incomplete or ambiguous, as typically happens in intelligence analysis. The software downloadable here takes an analyst through a process for making a well-reasoned, analytical judgment. It is particularly useful for issues that require careful weighing of alternative explanations of what has happened, is happening, or is likely to happen in the future. It helps the analyst overcome, or at least minimize, some of the cognitive limitations that make prescient intelligence analysis so difficult. ACH is grounded in basic insights from cognitive psychology, decision analysis, and the scientific method. It helps analysts protect themselves from avoidable error, and improves their chances of making a correct judgment.
This software was developed by Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in collaboration with Richards J. Heuer, Jr. It was developed for use by the U.S. Intelligence Community with funding from the Intelligence Community's Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
In distributing ACH, PARC is making the presently downloadable version of the program available to the general public at no cost when used for non-commercial or educational purposes subject to the terms and conditions of its end user license.
CARVER2 - Target Analysis Software -- http://www.ni2cie.org/CARVER2.asp
CARVER2, a free software tool that provides a non-technical method of comparing and ranking critical infrastructure and key resources. It is the only assessment tool that ranks critical infrastructure across sectors.
The CARVER2 vulnerability assessment tool is designed to quickly and easily identify and compare potential natural disaster and/or terrorist targets at the local, state and national levels in order to assist government officials in the allocation of protective resources. The CARVER2 target analysis tool is available free of charge to federal, state, and local government officials and agencies, as well as non-profit and educational institutions. See below to request the installation package.
Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor -- https://cofee.nw3c.org/
Microsoft COFEE is being made available to individuals employed by law enforcement agencies within the United States and Canada. COFEE means the Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor tool that fits on a USB drive and automates the execution of commands for data extraction and related documentation. Distribution is limited to law enforcement agencies. Access to the COFEE product requires verification of employment with a law enforcement agency and agreement to the terms and conditions of the Microsoft/NW3C Sublicense Agreement. The verification process is automated if you have an email account with RISS.NET or LEO.GOV, or have an account with NW3C.
Computer Security Evaluation Tool -- http://www.us-cert.gov/control_systems/satool.html
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its latest cyber system assessment tool to the Critical Infrastructure/Key Resources (CI/KR) community. The Computer Security Evaluation Tool (CSET) is a desktop software tool that guides users through a step-by-step process to evaluate their cyber systems and network security practices against recognized industry standards.
According to DHS, the benefits of CSET include:
Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH) is a simple model for how to think about a complex problem when the available information is incomplete or ambiguous, as typically happens in intelligence analysis. The software downloadable here takes an analyst through a process for making a well-reasoned, analytical judgment. It is particularly useful for issues that require careful weighing of alternative explanations of what has happened, is happening, or is likely to happen in the future. It helps the analyst overcome, or at least minimize, some of the cognitive limitations that make prescient intelligence analysis so difficult. ACH is grounded in basic insights from cognitive psychology, decision analysis, and the scientific method. It helps analysts protect themselves from avoidable error, and improves their chances of making a correct judgment.
This software was developed by Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in collaboration with Richards J. Heuer, Jr. It was developed for use by the U.S. Intelligence Community with funding from the Intelligence Community's Advanced Research and Development Activity (ARDA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR).
In distributing ACH, PARC is making the presently downloadable version of the program available to the general public at no cost when used for non-commercial or educational purposes subject to the terms and conditions of its end user license.
CARVER2 - Target Analysis Software -- http://www.ni2cie.org/CARVER2.asp
CARVER2, a free software tool that provides a non-technical method of comparing and ranking critical infrastructure and key resources. It is the only assessment tool that ranks critical infrastructure across sectors.
The CARVER2 vulnerability assessment tool is designed to quickly and easily identify and compare potential natural disaster and/or terrorist targets at the local, state and national levels in order to assist government officials in the allocation of protective resources. The CARVER2 target analysis tool is available free of charge to federal, state, and local government officials and agencies, as well as non-profit and educational institutions. See below to request the installation package.
Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor -- https://cofee.nw3c.org/
Microsoft COFEE is being made available to individuals employed by law enforcement agencies within the United States and Canada. COFEE means the Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor tool that fits on a USB drive and automates the execution of commands for data extraction and related documentation. Distribution is limited to law enforcement agencies. Access to the COFEE product requires verification of employment with a law enforcement agency and agreement to the terms and conditions of the Microsoft/NW3C Sublicense Agreement. The verification process is automated if you have an email account with RISS.NET or LEO.GOV, or have an account with NW3C.
Computer Security Evaluation Tool -- http://www.us-cert.gov/control_systems/satool.html
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released its latest cyber system assessment tool to the Critical Infrastructure/Key Resources (CI/KR) community. The Computer Security Evaluation Tool (CSET) is a desktop software tool that guides users through a step-by-step process to evaluate their cyber systems and network security practices against recognized industry standards.
According to DHS, the benefits of CSET include:
- Contributing to an organization's risk management and decision-making process;
- Raising awareness and facilitating discussion on cyber security within the organization;
- Highlighting vulnerabilities in the organization's systems and providing recommendations on ways to address those vulnerabilities;
- Identifying areas of strength and best practices being followed in the organization;
- Providing a method to systematically compare and monitor improvement in the cyber systems; and
- Providing a common industry-wide tool for assessing cyber systems.
CrimeStat III -- http://www.icpsr.umich.edu/CrimeStat/
CrimeStat III is a spatial statistics program for the analysis of crime incident locations, developed by Ned Levine & Associates under the direction of Ned Levine, PhD, that was funded by grants from the National Institute of Justice. The program is Windows-based and interfaces with most desktop GIS programs. The purpose is to provide supplemental statistical tools to aid law enforcement agencies and criminal justice researchers in their crime mapping efforts. CrimeStat is being used by many police departments around the country as well as by criminal justice and other researchers. The latest version is 3.3. The program inputs incident locations (e.g., robbery locations) in 'dbf', 'shp', ASCII or ODBC-compliant formats using either spherical or projected coordinates. It calculates various spatial statistics and writes graphical objects to ArcGIS®, MapInfo®, Surfer for Windows®, and other GIS packages.
Comprehensive R Archive Network -- http://cran.r-project.org/
Comprehensive R Archive Network a freely available language and environment for statistical computing and graphics which provides a wide variety of statistical and graphical techniques: linear and nonlinear modelling, statistical tests, time series analysis, classification, clustering, etc.
Decrypto is a fast and automated cryptogram solver by Edwin Olson. It can decode word games often found in newspapers, including puzzles like cryptoquips and patristocrats. You can also download a stand-alone version. [We have also found this program useful for quickly breaking simple substitution ciphers used by some criminal gangs.]
Encryption Wizard (EW) DoD Software Protection Initiative -- http://spi.dod.mil/ewizard.htm
EW is an SPC implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) (Rijndael) augmented with a file manager Graphical User Interface (GUI) for ease of use. The 128-bit encryption/decryption algorithm used by Encryption Wizard is considered cryptographically strong and is routinely used in National Security Agency (NSA) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) certified products. Encryption Wizard is designed to protect data at rest and in transit (such as email attachments). EW is an easy to use tool for protecting sensitive (but not classified) documents, and for protecting files before transmission via email. It allows a user to encrypt files using a 128-bit implementation of the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with simple drag-and-drop efficiency. Encryption Wizard can significantly increase an organization‘s security posture at little to no cost to protect sensitive data in transit (E-mail, FTP, or shared web folders) or at rest on a removable storage device. The primary version for government users utilizes a FIPS 140-2 validated encryption engine licensed from RSA
Environmental Protection Agency | VSAT -- http://yosemite.epa.gov/ow/SReg.nsf/description/VSAT
VSAT is a risk assessment software tool for water, wastewater, and combined utilities of all sizes. The tool assists drinking water and wastewater owners and operators in performing security threats and natural hazards risk assessments, as well as updating utility Emergency Response Plans. EPA, in collaboration with Water Sector partners, has updated VSAT to be consistent with the 2007 Risk Analysis and Management for Critical Asset Protection framework. The upgraded tool includes a new user-interface, an enhanced natural disaster threat assessment process, and a revised risk assessment approach. VSAT 5.0 software will provide the following benefits:
•An intuitive process with improved navigation and enhanced work tracking features;
•An improved analytical approach that will make consequence, vulnerability, and likelihood of occurrence assessments of threats more transparent; and
•A natural disaster assessment process supported by historical information to enable likelihood determinations.
NOTE: Although designed for water system vulnerabilities, VSAT is highly applicable to other types of risk analysis.
•An improved analytical approach that will make consequence, vulnerability, and likelihood of occurrence assessments of threats more transparent; and
•A natural disaster assessment process supported by historical information to enable likelihood determinations.
NOTE: Although designed for water system vulnerabilities, VSAT is highly applicable to other types of risk analysis.
Individuals lacking a background in information technology often have a need for simple tools that allow the rapid creation of data collection instruments and data analysis, visualization, and reporting using epidemiologic methods. Epi Info™, a suite of lightweight software tools, delivers core ad-hoc epidemiologic functionality without the complexity or expense of large, enterprise applications. Epi Info™ is easily used in places with limited network connectivity or limited resources for commercial software and professional IT support. Epi Info™ is flexible, scalable, and free while enabling data collection, advanced statistical analyses, and geographic information system (GIS) mapping capability. It's free from the CDC, intended for public health practitioners and epidemiologists, but it includes many statistical techniques that crime analysts use too, including multivariate techniques. Epi Info training is available on-line from the UNC Center for Public Health Preparedness.
Google Earth -- http://www.google.com/earth/index.html
Google Earth lets you view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings, galaxies in outer space, and the depths of the ocean.
Near Repeat Calculator -- http://www.temple.edu/cj/misc/nr/
This software originates with the relatively recent discovery of the near repeat phenomenon in burglary patterns, a discovery that has highlighted the communicability of crime events that affect the risk level at nearby locations. The near repeat phenomenon states that if a location is the target of a crime (such as burglary), the homes within a relatively short distance have an increased chance of being burgled for a limited number of weeks (Townsley et al, 2003; Bowers and Johnson, 2004; Johnson and Bowers, 2004a, 2004b). This communicability of risk to nearby locations for a short amount of time raises the possibility that other crime types may also suffer from a near repeat spatio-temporal pattern of behavior.
The analytical method employed builds on a space-time clustering methods first pioneered by Knox (1964) to study the epidemiology of childhood leukemia. The Knox test seeks to determine whether there are more event-pairs observed that occur with a closer proximity in space and time than would be expected on the basis of a random distribution. To do this, each shooting for a particular dataset is compared with every other and the spatial and temporal distance between them recorded. The result is a matrix of space-time distances.
To establish a null hypothesis measure against which to test the shooting patterns, we employ a Monte Carlo simulation process. By computing multiple simulations of the expected values, it is possible to generate an expected distribution under a null hypothesis – using the actual study data. This provides a unique way to examine what would occur if there were no near repeat patterns.
Problem Analysis Module -- http://www.popcenter.org/learning/pam/
Problem Analysis Module (PAM) gives you a framework for analyzing any persistent crime and public safety problem. PAM will ask you to input information concerning every aspect of the problem and then suggest the kinds of responses you could try. PAM was developed to assist police problem solving through the asking of specific questions. The questions come from research into a set of powerful theories within the field of Environmental Criminology – particularly Routine Activity Theory, Situational Crime Prevention, and Crime Pattern Theory.
Quantum GIS (QGIS) is a powerful and user friendly Open Source Geographic Information System (GIS) that runs on Linux, Unix, Mac OSX, Windows and Android. QGIS supports vector, raster, and database formats. QGIS is licensed under the GNU Public License.
RAIDS On-Line Public Crime Map -- http://bairanalytics.com/raidsonline
BAIR’s free public crime map, RAIDS Online, connects law enforcement with the community to reduce crime and improve public safety. RAIDS Online is absolutely free to law enforcement and the public! RAIDS On-line’s public crime map works with any RMS to allow law enforcement to share crime data with the public through an easy-to-use online crime map and analytics dashboard. The data is displayed with 8 fields of limited offense information to protect victim privacy. This is a valuable tool for law enforcement to communicate crime activity to their citizens and the media.
BAIR’s free public crime map, RAIDS Online, connects law enforcement with the community to reduce crime and improve public safety. RAIDS Online is absolutely free to law enforcement and the public! RAIDS On-line’s public crime map works with any RMS to allow law enforcement to share crime data with the public through an easy-to-use online crime map and analytics dashboard. The data is displayed with 8 fields of limited offense information to protect victim privacy. This is a valuable tool for law enforcement to communicate crime activity to their citizens and the media.
RFFlow is a powerful, yet easy to use, tool for drawing flowcharts, organization charts, and many other kinds of diagrams. You will quickly create professional-looking charts for documents, presentations, or the Web.
RFFlow has the capability to generate crime analysis charts. http://www.rff.com/sample_criminal_analysis.htm
Risk Self-Assessment Tool for Commercial Facilities - http://www.dhs.gov/files/programs/gc_1259861625248.shtm
The Risk Self Assessment Tool is a free, Web-based tool that delivers an all-hazard analysis of a facility’s current risk level and offers options for consideration on reducing and managing potential vulnerabilities. The self-assessment allows public assembly and lodging venues to manage their relative risk and provide a safe and secure venue for employees and guests.
SketchFace -- http://sketchface.com/
Created by Ali Daneshmandi, SketchFace is a free web application for creating photo-realistic facial composite pictures.
Squidmat (courses of action evaluation program) -- http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/jmstauffer/Squidmat/
The program compares two or more courses of action based on two or more evaluation criteria. The user arranges the evaluation criteria in descending order of importance and tells the program how much more important each criterion is than the next lower criterion. These importance ratings are used to calculate weights for each criterion. SquidMat takes user-supplied values for each course-of-action/criterion combination and converts them to Z scores. Using the criterion weights, the program calculates weighted sums for each course of action. The course of action with the highest weighted sum is considered to be the best. SquidMat is designed as a replacement decision matrix program for the CAS3 program DECMAT.
The program compares two or more courses of action based on two or more evaluation criteria. The user arranges the evaluation criteria in descending order of importance and tells the program how much more important each criterion is than the next lower criterion. These importance ratings are used to calculate weights for each criterion. SquidMat takes user-supplied values for each course-of-action/criterion combination and converts them to Z scores. Using the criterion weights, the program calculates weighted sums for each course of action. The course of action with the highest weighted sum is considered to be the best. SquidMat is designed as a replacement decision matrix program for the CAS3 program DECMAT.
(DECMAT – Decision Matrix Software -- http://www.dcswift.com/military/software.html)
Statistical Software (Links to several free programs) -- http://www.freestatistics.altervista.org/en/stat.php
TrueCrypt is a software system for establishing and maintaining an on-the-fly-encrypted volume (data storage device). On-the-fly encryption means that data is automatically encrypted or decrypted right before it is loaded or saved, without any user intervention. No data stored on an encrypted volume can be read (decrypted) without using the correct password/keyfile(s) or correct encryption keys. Entire file system is encrypted (e.g., file names, folder names, contents of every file, free space, meta data, etc).