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Are crime maps the way ahead for cracking crime?
FIRST, fingerprinting, then ultra-sophisticated crime-scene forensics and then DNA – now crime-mapping!
Little can stand in the way of the onward march of hi-tech crime-busters.
But is crime-mapping all that it is claimed to be?
Go online and look at our crime maps – and you will be given a picture, at last, of what crime to expect where in the borough.
That, basically, is what the police are saying.
That cannot be denied – to some extent.
But watch out! The only crimes mapped so far are burglaries, robberies and car break-ins.
Other crimes – more serious ones – such as crimes of violence and drug-dealing have not yet been mapped. That will come, of course. But not now.
Apparently, the government’s Information Commissioner Richard Thomas was set against crime-mapping on the grounds that a map of crimes in a street would, in effect, pinpoint specific houses.
The police got around this by clustering crimes in a segment of streets.
But then arises the question: Will crime-mapping lower property prices?
The police tend to swat this away. While estate agents tend to say, no. But only an estate agent who doesn’t want to make a sale would advise a client to look at the map before choosing a location – and there cannot be many as foolish as that!
Common sense says crime-mapping will, at the very least, confuse home-hunters if not drive them from certain areas.
If that were to happen in today’s climate of falling house sales, then the appearance of the crime map this week will only give sales another push downwards.
Perhaps this is of little importance given the need to see the bigger picture.
Historically, it could be argued, the crime maps tell you little that you did not know already.
Burglaries of homes in the more affluent area of Hampstead have always been on the high side, as one would expect. Records going back more than 100 years will attest to that.
Equally, one would expect fewer burglaries in poorer Somers Town. Professional burglars would not waste their time there!
But, on the other hand, the maps fulfil a positive role by pinpointing, for instance, the relatively new phenomenon of violent street robberies in the posher parts of the borough.
Perhaps unintentionally, the maps will strengthen the hand of those who want to see more police patrolling the streets.
If, initially, they achieve that, the maps will have played a positive role.
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