Social Network Analysis: A Data Driven Approach to Reducing Gun Related Crime

• In Event: Tucson Police Department: Innovations and Evaluations

Abstract

Police departments house and manage large amounts of data from criminal activities and these data are often siloed and disconnected, making it laborious to develop meaningful information. When collected and connected, these data provide an opportunity to better understand criminal network activity and examine gun related crime as network activity to enhance our understanding of information flow. Social Network Analysis (SNA) is the process of connecting people, places, or events while focusing on relationships. Through SNA, law enforcement can visually examine connections and mathematically describe a criminal network. With this information, further analysis on critical nodes within a network can be understood. Data from one agency’s Record Management System (RMS) were used along with connections between incidents in the agency’s RMS, and firearm ballistic data, which was matched to an incident, creating new relationship between incidents that previously appeared isolated. The networks were examined to better understand different criminal activities. These connections form a network that could be of interest for further investigation. Further analysis will look at key actors (people) and the bridges between them (connections). By combining separated datasets and utilizing SNA to visualize the connections between identified points, law enforcement can further evidence-based policing initiatives.

Author

• Anna Leach, Tucson Police Department