Skip to local navigation | Skip to main content

Get the Bulletin

Geography & Public Safety is published quarterly and is available in print and electronically.

Mapping & Analysis

NIJ's Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety (MAPS) program supports research that helps agencies use GIS to enhance public safety. The program examines:

  • How to use maps to analyze crime.
  • How to analyze spatial data.
  • How maps can help researchers evaluate programs and policies.
  • How to develop mapping, data sharing and spatial analysis tools.

Learn all about MAPS.

Geography and Public Safety Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 1: Sex Offender Residency Restrictions

by National Institute of Justice and the Office of Community Oriented Policing ServicesJune 2009

This issue focuses on how mapping and spatial analysis can help jurisdictions understand the effects of sex offender residency restrictions.  Specifically, it discusses how residency restrictions affect recidivism - whether they hamper offenders' reentry process and make it less likely that they will get treatment and services. Articles include a discussion of whether residency restrictions are a good idea, a study of residency restrictions in Minnesota, a report on the use of GPS monitoring for sex offenders in Florida, and a description of a spatial analysis technique for tracking sex offenders piloted by California Department of Corrections data.

Aricles include:

  • Residency Restrictions: What’s Geography Got to Do with It?
  • Right Place, Right Time: GPS Monitoring in Pinellas County
  • Residency Restrictions and Sex Offender Recidivism: Implications for Public Safety
  • Geographic Research Suggests Sex Offender Residency Laws May Not Work