Time Periods of Crime Density

Beginning in 2004, the South Georgia Regional Development Center began geocoding crime incidents for Tifton, Georgia, a city of approximately 15,000 residents. Since the spatial display of crime data was new to Tifton, there was a particular interest in how the crime patterns would look. Initially, a density map for all Part I crimes for the period of February 2004–April 2004 was made. After that, crimes were broken down by six-hour time periods (midnight to 6:00 a.m., 6:00 a.m. to noon, noon to 6:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. to midnight). This was done to see how density patterns would vary by time of day. Analyzing crime incidents by time of day helps law enforcement concentrate patrol efforts during specific time periods.

Part I crime incidents were geocoded in ArcMap. The crimes were sorted by the four time periods. Crime densities were calculated for each time period and the 24-hour map using ArcGIS Spatial Analyst.