Comprehensive Community Based Information System to Reduce Youth and Gang Violence in Los Angeles County and Beyond

• NCJ Number: 242277
• Journal: Geography & Public Safety Volume: 3 Issue: 2 Dated: August 2012 Pages: 9-10
• Date Published: August 2012
• Author(s): Cheryl Newman-Tarwater; Ray Bercini
• Length: 2 pages
• Agencies: NIJ; COPS
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)

Annotation

This article describes the features and uses of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Community-Based Information System (CBIS), which has become a central tool for law enforcement agencies in documenting and addressing the socioeconomic dynamics underlying troubled neighborhoods, with a focus on gang-related problems.

Abstract

CBIS is a Web-based, password protected portal that is accessible only to law enforcement and data-sharing partners. It is divided into four functional sections: service referral, mapping, charting communities, and resource library. As part of the resource library, CBIS includes one of the largest gang-related open-source intelligence document libraries in the Nation. The GIS capabilities of CBIS enable users to assess community capacity and resource data as well as crime trends. Layers for mapping include community and school demographics, cross-jurisdiction crime data, parole data, and Section 8 and public housing data. Capitalizing on the versatility of GIS, other layers are continually being added. The service referral component is used to refer gang members to job training programs and for referring at-risk and under-served youth to needed social services. Resource deployment decisions have been made based on crime patterns. To date (2012), CBIS has 45 partners across California and the Nation. 4 figures and 4 notes