## Step 5 - Reading

Reading
Some people wanted to discover the mystery behind Banksy’s identity and so they tried to find out who he (or she) is. Now we’re going to read about how they think they have discovered who he is.
A definition of geographic profiling is: 'a way of finding out the residence by connecting places that a person has visited'.

First read about geographic profiling.

Geographic profiling Geographic profiling is an investigative methodology that uses the locations of a connected series of crimes to determine the most probable area that an offender lives in. Although it is generally applied in serial murder, rape, arson, robbery, and bombing cases, geographic profiling also can be used in single crimes that involve multiple scenes or other significant geographic characteristics. Developed from research conducted at Simon Fraser University's School of Criminology and rooted in the pathbreaking work of Brantingham and Brantingham (1981), the methodology is based on a model that describes the hunting behavior of the offender. The criminal geographic targeting (CGT) program uses overlapping distance-decay functions centered on each crime location to produce jeopardy surfaces—three-dimensional probability surfaces that indicate the area where the offender probably lives. The distance-decay concept conveys the idea that people, including criminals, generally take more short trips and fewer long trips in the course of their daily lives, which may include criminal activities. Thus overlapping distance-decay functions are sets of curves expressing this phenomenon and suggesting, for example, that it is more likely that offenders live close to the sites of their crimes than far away. Probability surfaces can be displayed on both two- and three-dimensional color isopleth maps, which then provide a focus for investigative efforts. Geographic profiling can be used as the basis for several investigative strategies. Some of the more common ones include: Suspect and tip prioritization. Address-based searches of police record systems. Patrol saturation and surveillance. Canvasses and searches. Mass DNA screening prioritization. Department of motor vehicles searches. ZIP Code prioritization. Information request mailouts.

Do the exercise.

Now read the text 'Banksy unmasked?'.

Banksy unmasked? Scientists use maths and criminology to map artist's identity British academics have used combinations of maths, criminology and geographic profiling to back up a theory over the identity of mysterious street artist Banksy. Scientists at Queen Mary University of London said the pattern of how Banksy’s artworks were distributed suggested he was artist Robin Gunningham. Gunningham was first named as Banksy by the Daily Mail newspaper in 2008. Banksy’s politically-themed street art has made him a celebrity in Britain, despite his true identity never having been confirmed. His most high-profile recent project was Dismaland, a “bemusement park”, located in southwest England. Geographic profiling is a technique used in fields from criminology to the study of patterns of infectious disease. The research, published in the Journal of Spatial Science, analysed a series of locations of Banksy’s artworks in London and Bristol and mapped them against “anchor points” such as the homes of people suspected of being Banksy to draw conclusions about possible identity. “Our analysis highlights areas associated with one prominent candidate (e.g. his home), supporting his identification as Banksy,” the paper said. “More broadly, these results support previous suggestions that analysis of minor terrorism-related acts (eg graffiti) could be used to help locate terrorist bases before more serious incidents occur, and provides a fascinating example of the application of the model to a complex, real-world problem.” One of the research team, Steve Le Comber, told the BBC: “I’d be surprised if it’s not (Gunningham), even without our analysis, but it’s interesting that the analysis offers additional support for it.” The BBC also reported that Banksy’s legal team had contacted staff at the university with concerns about how the research was to be promoted. Source: https://www.theguardian.com/

Do the exercise.