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
Which concept describes the geographic area where an offender is comfortable operating and has experiential knowledge from daily activities?
Answer: Activity space / awareness space
Awareness space (or activity space) is the geographic area an offender knows well through routine activities like work, shopping, and recreation.
Hot spot mapping using kernel density estimation (KDE) produces:
Answer: A smooth, continuous surface showing crime density across a geographic area
KDE generates a continuous probability density surface that smooths point data into a raster showing relative crime concentration across space.
The 'circle hypothesis' in geographic profiling, associated with Canter and Larkin, proposes that:
Answer: The offender's home is likely located within a circle whose diameter spans the two most distant crime sites
Canter and Larkin's circle hypothesis states that the offender's home base typically falls within a circle defined by the two furthest crime locations as its diameter.
STAC (Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Crime) is a software tool used to:
Answer: Identify statistically significant crime clusters using ellipse-based analysis
STAC identifies statistically significant clusters of crime events using spatial ellipses to delineate hot spots.
A 'crime attractor' in environmental criminology is best defined as:
Answer: A place that draws offenders because of known criminal opportunities
Crime attractors are specific places known to potential offenders for their criminal opportunities, drawing offenders who travel specifically to exploit them.
When analyzing serial arson using geographic profiling, which anchor point is most commonly identified as the offender's base?
Answer: Residence or workplace, depending on the offender's profile
Serial arsonists typically anchor to their residence or workplace, and the geographic profile attempts to identify which anchor point is generating the crime pattern.
The mean center of crime locations is best used in geographic profiling to:
Answer: Provide an initial, simple estimate of the probable offender anchor area
The mean center provides a basic starting estimate of the central tendency of crime locations, offering a rough anchor area for further refined analysis.