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.
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:
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Do the exercise.
Now read the text 'Banksy unmasked?'.
“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. |