Geospatial Technologies and GIS to model predictive behavior and meth lab locations in Colorado

An interesting read on Geospatial technologies and predictive behavior analysis in mapping meth labs in Colorado Springs.

Most of us in the industry realize that GIS and Geospatial technologies in general have gone mainstream. So, its no huge surprise to see Geo Tech tales hitting the mainstream tech news sites and magazine. One publication to recently tout the merits of Geo technology is Fast Company.  In an interesting read, author Neil Ungerleider delves into the CSI-like capabilities of GIS professionals in a story of how geographic modelling and predictive analysis has been used by a professor at Kansas State University to identify and locate meth labs before they are built! 

Using Colorado Springs as a test area, the study applied a number of spatial data products and predictive tools to model the behavior of suspected meth lab creators, identifying hot spots of potential activity and some interesting findings that showed the spread of meth labs into middle class communities. 

See complete details in this fine Fast Company article

Mapping Meth Labs in Colorado Springs

Note: The city of Colorado Springs has made GIS information on meth lab busts publicly available.

For an interesting read, see also – No, Virginia. Google Maps Can’t Really Predict Meth Labs Before They Open. The article takes a much closer look at the analysis and proves that GIS and not simply "Google Maps" deserves the credit! A nice read