By Julian Bajkowski
Police in South Australia are taking advice on how curb the state’s
bike menace using digital mapping and geographic information systems
to keep tabs on the two-wheeled hoodlums.
The move to put bikies on the law enforcement map comes from US
criminal profiler Mike King who works for GIS systems provider Esri
and has been advising US authorities on mitigating gang violence.
The push to get smart on gang turf boundaries and their related
nefarious activities comes after a number of states passed
ineffective stop-gap laws aimed at thwarting bikies from
congregating that fell foul of civil liberties advocates and some
unions.
“Gang activity and associated data, when properly recorded and
managed through GIS technology, allows law enforcement agencies to
better understand gang movement, motivation and methodology,” Mr
King said.
Mr King said that in Ogden, Utah, GIS was part of a police response
that “led to new laws making gang associations illegal.”
Months of increased monitoring and police efforts help reduce the
number of gang related incidents, Mr King said.
“There is no reason why the same approach would not work in
Australia,” he said.
Another part of the push to get data working better is encouragement
for different law enforcement agencies to share their information
and intelligence using intelligent maps.
Mr King said that while there were distinct jurisdictions for
police, criminals did not always care about state boundaries.
