County Policy Maker Calls for Data Mapping to Help Reduce City Crime
Statewide conference draws top attendance to Evansville to discuss global-information mapping
EVANSVILLE, IND (May 11, 2023) — Vanderburgh County Board of Commissioners President Cheryl Musgrave gave
the keynote address today at the statewide Indiana Geographic Information Council conference at the Old
National Events Plaza, where she called for local officials to leverage the advances in GIS data in developing
solutions to Evansville’s crime and gun-violence problems.
“Vanderburgh County has been a pioneer for Indiana over the years in leveraging GIS for everything from
assessing property tax to identifying infrastructure and helping our farming communities,†said Musgrave. “And as
the technology has advanced, policy makers and change agents in our community can now take greater
advantage of GIS to help solve some of our most pressing and threatening problems.â€
Musgrave presented Vanderburgh County’s development of its GIS system, one of the first in the state. At the
heart of her keynote address, Musgrave focused on the how the power of GIS data mapping can, as one example,
illustrate the murder locations within Evansville over the past 10 years, which can be vital in helping policy makers
see the true picture and develop real solutions to address the rise in violent crime in the city.
“GIS changes the way we see our world by combining data with geography,†Musgrave explained. “The data show
the way humans live, work, behave and, in this example, mis-behave. Combining this data with a geographic
location on a map creates a picture, and that picture creates new perceptions and sparks ideas for new solutions.â€
The IGIS conference attracted local-government participants from throughout Indiana, with attendance holding
strong to attendance numbers from the last IGIS conference held in Evansville.
