In an effort to better monitor the residences of students living off-campus, Johns Hopkins Security is working on a computer program that will map out the locations of various crimes committed in the surrounding areas.
The program, which has not yet been given a name, has been in the works for the past six or seven months, but is still "in the developmental stage," said Hopkins Security Officer Steven Ossmus, who is heading up the effort.
"It's an electronic version of the dot map we have in Shriver," Ossmus said.
The purpose of the program is to determine if there are any patterns in the crimes occurring.
When completed, the program will be used to "assess crime in the area surrounding campus" which will allow Security to determine any "migration trends of crimes," said Ossmus.
Each week, Security receives a list of area crimes from Northern District Police.
After obtaining these sheets, Security Officers will now load the details of the crimes into a database, and the program will plot each individual crime on a three-dimensional map.
The information in the database will come directly from the reports sent out by the Northern District Police.
Once it is up and running, the program "will assist us in putting out alerts and bulletins," said Ossmus.
It will allow Security to keep an eye on certain neighborhoods and more easily determine if certain crimes occur more often in certain areas.
Each type of crime will have its own icon, and by clicking on the icon, Security will be able to find out the specific details of each individual crime.
The base program that is being used is called the Map Info Program.
A map of the area within a one-mile radius of campus was imported. "BCPD (Baltimore City Police Department) uses the same program for crime analysis," said Ossmus. "We're trying to clone something on a smaller scale."
Ossmus' ultimate objective is to be able to download all information on area crimes from the BCPD. He is still looking into whether this is feasible. "It would give us quicker data in a less cumbersome manner," said Ossmus. Currently, each crime is entered into the database by hand.
Ossmus is "still tweaking" the program. "We're trying to make it more user-friendly," he said.
Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The News-Letter.