Geographic Profiling & Mapping Flashcards
7 cards from real CCP practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Geographic Profiling & Mapping flashcards as text
In geographic profiling, the 'buffer zone' refers to the area around the offender's home base where:
Answer: Crimes are rarely committed because the offender fears recognition
The buffer zone is a region immediately surrounding the offender's anchor point where they typically avoid offending due to fear of recognition.
Which mathematical model underpins the Rigel geographic profiling software developed by Kim Rossmo?
Answer: Criminal geographic targeting (CGT) algorithm
Rossmo's Rigel software uses the Criminal Geographic Targeting (CGT) algorithm to generate probability surfaces for offender residence.
The 'journey-to-crime' concept is best described as:
Answer: The spatial distance an offender travels from their anchor point to commit crimes
Journey-to-crime refers to the distance and direction an offender travels from their home base or anchor point to commit offenses.
Thiessen polygons (Voronoi diagrams) are used in crime mapping primarily to:
Answer: Assign geographic areas of responsibility or catchment zones around fixed points
Thiessen polygons divide space into regions based on proximity to a set of points, useful for defining service areas or patrol zones around police stations.
A commuter offender pattern in geographic profiling is characterized by:
Answer: Offenses occurring far from the home base with travel to a distinct hunting ground
Commuter offenders travel away from their home base to a separate area or hunting ground where they commit their crimes.
In spatial analysis of serial crimes, 'spatial autocorrelation' measures:
Answer: The degree to which nearby locations have similar crime values
Spatial autocorrelation quantifies how much nearby geographic units resemble each other in terms of crime rates or occurrence.
The 'decay function' in geographic profiling describes:
Answer: The decreasing likelihood of an offender committing crimes as distance from their base increases
The decay function models how crime probability decreases as distance from the offender's anchor point increases, beyond the buffer zone.