Students Learn to Use GPS, GIS Technology to Solve Crimes

The University of Toronto Mississuagua's Forensic Anthropology Field School is teaching students to map out details of crime scenes by using GPS and GIS technology to analyze evidence and spatially piece together crime scene clues.

GIS technology can be used to display and analyze patterns in crime scene locations and forensic information. When combined with GPS systems, GIS software  may be used to document and track patterns of crimes, track movements of criminals released on parole, as well as predict locations where serial offenders live and operate. The applications offer many possibilities for the visualization of forensic data and providing spatial and three- dimensional perspectives on forensic investigations.

Digital mapping is used in many courses at other universities, however not all place the process of data collection entirely in the student’s hands. At the Forensic Anthropology Field School, students proactively analyze spatial relationships, run scenarios, take detailed measurements, compare maps to aerial photographs, identify patterns and create data sets.