Integrated GIS Enhances Crime Analysis, Research and Intelligence for More Effective Policing

London, ON - April 8, 2010 - ESRI Canada today presented an Award of Excellence to the Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) for its success in using ESRI's geographic information systems (GIS) to improve crime analysis and intelligence in support of public safety operations in the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.  The ESRI Canada Awards of Excellence recognize organizations and individuals for their outstanding achievements in the application of GIS technology.  The award was presented at the 2010 ESRI Canada User Conference in London.

"Access to timely, accurate and complete information is essential to effective police operations," said Alex Miller, President, ESRI Canada.  "The Waterloo Regional Police Service has made great strides in using GIS to enable rapid crime analysis and better access to actionable intelligence.  We commend them for leveraging ESRI technology to create safer communities."

Prior to using ESRI technology in 2008, WRPS analysts needed to access separate systems for recording, mapping and analyzing cases.  Staff spent several hours daily to manually find associated geographic information (such as street addresses or postal codes) for cases entered into the record management system that could be visualized using maps.  This caused inefficiencies and delays in providing information to patrol officers, investigators and the community.  

Using ESRI's ArcGIS Server and Desktop solutions, the WRPS has automated geocoding processes and integrated its record management, statistical analysis and computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems into the GIS.  This has led to significant time savings and enhanced the organization's capabilities to monitor, respond to and prevent crimes.  The WRPS uses rich integration, visualization and advanced analytical tools in ArcGIS to support comprehensive and in-depth crime analysis, early identification of trends and patterns, tracking of prolific offenders and long-term strategic planning.  

The system allows crime analysts to view police dispatch information and history of crime occurrences combined with other data such as public transportation stops, schools, hotels, liquor stores, aerial raster images and more.  This new way of looking at geographic information allows analysts to focus on offenders and where they live, on incidents and where they occurred, and draw connections between the two.  The WRPS also uses GIS to support neighbourhood policing initiatives including the realignment of patrol boundaries based on workload trends and demographic changes.    

"Using ESRI GIS has helped us to deliver more timely, efficient and effective services to our citizens," said Michael Mann, Deputy Chief of Operations, WRPS.  "It allows us to glean more value from our information and optimize resources, allowing us to operate with greater transparency and accountability.  We are honoured by this recognition and look forward to using GIS to further improve our services."

The WRPS plans to leverage the Web mapping capabilities in ArcGIS to develop an application that will allow frontline police officers to run queries in the GIS, as well as improve online public access to neighbourhood crime activity information.   

For more information on ESRI Canada solutions for public safety, visit: www.esricanada.com/publicsafety.

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About the Waterloo Regional Police Service
The Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) was established in 1973 following the amalgamation of seven communities into the Regional Municipality of Waterloo.  It currently employs 724 police officers and 277 civilians.  The WRPS polices a region of 1,382 square kilometers with a population of 533,700. The areas that are policed include: the City of Kitchener, the City of Cambridge, the City of Waterloo, the Township of Woolwich, the Township of Wilmot, the Township of Wellesley and the Township of North Dumfries.  For more information, visit: http://www.wrps.on.ca/.

About ESRI Canada
Founded in 1984, ESRI Canada provides enterprise geographic information system (GIS) solutions that empower businesses, governments, and educational institutions to make timely, informed and mission critical decisions by leveraging the power of geography.    The company distributes the world's leading GIS software from ESRI, Telvent Miner & Miner, Azteca Systems, and other technology partners.  Headquartered in Toronto, the company serves over 10,000 customers from 16 regional offices across Canada.  Information about ESRI Canada can be found at http://www.esricanada.com/.   

Media contacts:
ESRI Canada:  Joy Chan, PR Specialist, +1 (416) 386-6488, Email Contact        
   
Waterloo Regional Police Service:  (519) 653-7700 ext. 8544   
Superintendent Steve Beckett, Community and Corporate Services, Email Contact
Olaf Heinzel, Public Affairs Coordinator, Email Contact