Crimemapping.com: The Holy Grail?

RM 217

In the digital age, where every click, purchase, or activity is systematically-recorded and analyzed, in 72 5th Annual Student Research Symposium what appears to be a coordinated fashion, it is surprising to discover how fragmented criminal justice data systems continue to be. This paper reports on efforts to examine the correlation between five different dimensions of train station design and maintenance, and crime around stations of Southern California’s commuter rail system, Metrolink. Collecting data on crimes around this system is challenging, as Metrolink trains operate on seven routes across a six-county, 538 route-mile network, and its stations are located in over 50 different cities. This presentation will detail the steps taken to gather crime data around Metrolink stations, what obstacles were encountered, and how researchers adapted to be able to conduct the study