23 July 2009, Aylesbury: A major new BBC television series, "The Truth About Crime", due to air this month, will be one of the first such TV series to use GIS -based approaches to deliver an accurate picture behind the statistics about crime in Britain today.

The series will be aired on BBC One from 9.00-10.00pm on Sunday evening's `primetime' slot and will be presented by former Crimewatch presenter Nick Ross. Each episode will cover a different area of crime, including Anti Social Behaviour, Violent Crime, and Acquisitive Crime, with a focus on Oxford as a representative city example of the rest of the country.

 

The programmes will explore the reality behind the tabloid headlines. In each case it will contrast actual crime statistics with public perceptions of crime and use digital maps to present the findings.
 

ESRI (UK) was approached by the show's producers to assist with its CrimeAnalyst software for the series, for use in understanding and interpreting data from Oxfordshire's Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership. Simon Cottingham, public safety strategist, ESRI (UK) said: "We were delighted to be asked to support the series. We work with many of the UK's police forces who use our GIS to assist them in analysing, visualising and sharing a greater understanding of crime."

About ESRI (UK)

ESRI (UK) (www.esriuk.com) is part of the global ESRI network. With the single, largest pool of GIS expertise in the UK, the company is the technical authority on GIS. ESRI (UK) provides solutions, technology and services including off the shelf applications built on the ArcGIS software suite and an extensive range of consulting and training services. Customers include Police Forces throughout England and Wales, all Scottish Police Forces, Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships and Community Safety Partnerships.
 

ESRI (UK) has been a trusted provider of GIS solutions and technology to the public sector for over 15 years, including working closely with the Public Safety community to deliver powerful solutions that help improve their service by extracting the greatest value from their information and enabling this intelligence to be more easily shared.

 We call this Visionary Thinking.

Find out more www.esriuk.com/publicsafety