Geographic Profiling Software

1. Introduction

This report describes a methodology for evaluating geographic profiling software. Following a brief overview of geographic profiling (Section 1.1), Section 1.2 describes how the methodology was developed. The key component of the methodology was convening an expert panel that met in August 2004; a summary and full transcript of the panel’s discussions are in Section 2 and the Appendix, respectively. The panel focused on four geographic profiling software applications, which are described in Section 3. The actual evaluation methodology is outlined in Section 4.

1.1. Background on Geographic Profiling

Geographic profiling is a criminal investigative technique that attempts to provide information on the likely “base of operations” of offenders thought to be committing serial crimes. The base of operations could be the offender’s home, place of employment, a friend house, or some other frequented location. The predictions are based on the locations of these crimes, other geographic information about the case and the suspect, and certain assumptions