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Tuesday
27th June 2006
Workshops |
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Each workshop is an all day event.
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| Workshop 1 |
Professor David Canter & Laura Hammond
The Centre for Investigative Psychology |
Dragnet:
A geographical profiling tool |
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Dragnet is a geographical prioritization
package, designed by Professor David Canter in 1995 and developed
through various stages over the past decade at the Centre of Investigative
Psychology at the University of Liverpool. The software was produced
by Malcom Huntley under contract to the Centre.
Dragnet is based on a large body of empirical research into the
spatial behaviour of offending populations. Using a series of crime
locations, the system will prioritise the surrounding area in order
to indicate the region or regions in which the home or base of
the perpetrator of that series would be most likely to be located.
The software has many values and benefits:
- It is highly appropriate and useful as an operational tool for
police and law enforcement agencies
- helps to refine and narrow the search for an offender
- reduces the costs and efforts required to search an area to locate
their residence
- It is also a highly flexible and valuable research tool
- allows the user to explore patterns and trends in the spatial
behaviour of offending populations and data on the journey to crime
- enables the impact of various factors on the efficiency and accuracy
of the geographical profiling process to be assessed
- the parameters and boundaries within which the system models
geographical activity can be defined and adjusted as necessary
Combined with local knowledge and crime scene information, the system provides
a very powerful investigative support tool.
The aim of the workshop is to provide participants with a full introduction to
the system and to enable them to gain a thorough understanding of how the programme
works.
Topics covered will include;
- what the system is and what it can be used for
- how the system generates prioritized maps of the area over which a series of
crimes or events has occurred
- interpreting and utilizing the results of Dragnet analyses
- preparing and loading data
- the effectiveness of the system and the ‘Search Cost Function’
Full training in the utilization and application of the system will be given,
using actual cases as examples of the software in use. Participants will have
the opportunity to have a go and test the system for themselves, with experts
on-hand to guide them through the various steps and procedures required for running
Dragnet analyses. Attendees are even invited to bring their own data, crime-based
or otherwise, to explore as part of their training. This can be in the form of
co-ordinates or points on a map, and instructors will be more than happy to assist
you in creating your own prioritized probability maps!
No previous experience of geographical profiling systems is required to attend
the workshop, as the training will be pitched at a level which will suit those
from a wide range of backgrounds and with skills and abilities of all levels.
Those taking part in the workshop will leave the training possessing the knowledge
and understanding needed to work with the Dragnet system and to use it as both
a research tool as well as an investigative aid.
They will:
- have a thorough comprehension of the principles and research upon which the
programme is based
- be proficient using all of the key options and functions within the software
in order to achieve the best possible results when using the system.
Those attending will be presented with a version of the Dragnet software that
they can take home with them. The newly published ‘Dragnet User Manual’ will
also be made available, at a specially reduced price for participants, as will
David Canter’s ‘Mapping Murder’ (published by Virgin
Books- ISBN: 0-7535-0926-1).
Please note each workshop costs an additional £100 to the standard registration
fee.
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