CHAPTER ELEVEN: DEVELOPING A PLAN OF ACTION

Establishing an effective GIS operation in a small to medium law enforcement jurisdiction follows a certain predictable life cycle which has associated do's and don'ts. Most of the "DO's" on this list may be considered critical go/no go items which must be present if the local GIS effort is to prove effective. This summary chapter presents in checklist form the action considerations related to GIS implementation as discussed in previous sections of this report.

1. DO secure an active leadership role for top management, possibly with a formal leadership board.

DON'T rely on a crime mapping staff person for sole leadership of the GIS effort.

2. DO a needs assessment.

DON'T underestimate the time involved.

3. DO undertake a systematic database management effort.

DON'T fail to budget for mounting database management software and hardware, integrating existing databases, inputting crime data, data cleaning and geocoding, and maintaining data access under conditions of data privacy.

4. DO seek compatibility with existing baseline mapping resources within the jurisdiction's planning, revenue, or other departments.

DON'T reinvent the wheel.

5. DO seek partnerships with other agencies, jurisdictions, vendors, universities, or other partners.

DON'T try to do it alone.

6. DO budget for the training of staff.

DON'T forget that upper-level management and lower-level end users need training also.

7. DO budget for high-end networked PC hardware.

DON'T expect satisfactory performance if one only meets the minimum box hardware requirements listed by the software.

8. DO seek to integrate incident, arrest, summons, recovery, parole/probation, Department of Correction release, and suspect databases.

DON'T rely solely on incident reporting.

9. DO seek to integrate data from other agencies, including tax, census, zoning, alcohol sales, street lighting, property ownership, transportation, and others.

DON'T rely on police/sheriff's office data alone.

10. DO seek initial projects which demonstrate clear substantive success.

DON'T spread operations too thin, undermining early succcesses.

11. DO utilize mapping output for community policing and outreach.

DON'T view GIS reports only as an in-house tool.

12. DO develop a realistic, long-term time frame.

DON'T assume effective partnerships can be created overnight, or that resistance to change will dissipate instantly.

13. DO consider forming an interagency council for purposes of coordinating data and software standards.

DON'T fail to plan for integrating law enforcement GIS with data systems from other agencies and jurisdictions.

14. DO consider regionalization as a long-range goal.

DON'T view crime as a static matter, lacking spatial mobility.

15. DO seek to join (or even establish) networks with and for other crime mapping professionals in the state.

DON'T fail to reward staff for professional development and networking.

16. DO have an evaluation component to one's crime mapping effort.

DON'T assume adequate budgeting will be forthcoming without compelling evidence of the effectiveness of GIS in law enforcement.