DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A CRIME GEOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION TRACKING SYSTEM

ABSTRACT

The use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) as a crime-fighting tool has proved to be an effective way to combat crime.  By combining incident and GIS databases with a mapping and analysis application, law enforcement agencies can bring a new level of crime analysis capabilities to their efforts. The system was designed after a comprehensive system analysis have been carried out from the crime detective personnel.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0  BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

As the amount of criminal activity across the country increases, the need for crime prevention also increases.  Therefore police departments need every available crime-fighting tool that can provide an advantage over criminals.  Since traditional methods of crime analysis are becoming out-dated due to the amount of time required for analysis, a more automated process is desired.  The primary goal of the system is to prevent local crime through active crime deterrence and increased criminal apprehension.  There is a growing trend in law enforcement to utilize computers equipped with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to solve and prevent crimes.  By combining incident databases and geographic data with a mapping and analysis tool, law enforcement agencies can bring a new level of crime analysis capabilities to their efforts. Mapping incident locations is an effective way to identify spatial relationships and gain valuable insight into criminal activity. These systems require considerable human and financial resources in order to be properly implemented and sustainable over time.  New computer hardware and the intended software to be developed must integrate into the force.  However, these systems are primarily limited to data from their own jurisdiction. There is no framework in place to support the sharing of incident data between jurisdictions for statewide cross-jurisdictional crime analysis.  Since criminals do not typically respect jurisdictional boundaries, data sharing can be a crucial element for effective analysis.  With the help of Geographical Information Systems (GIS), the law enforcement agencies are able to track crime data to location and view the crime situation of an area on a map. The introduction of GIS has made possible the integration of spatial and non-spatial data. GIS capabilities also allow police to pin point where the problem areas are and allocate appropriate resources.

1.2 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The major problem that is considered in this project work is how to develop the computerized crime tracking information system in such a way that will be understood and manage by the Nigerian Police Force, knowing that the system is sophisticated and it will require professional knowledge to manage. This is a huge problem considering the lack of expertise and high rate of corruption in the Nigeria Police Force.  As a result of the insincerity of the police force and the act of bribing and corruption that has eaten deep into the force in combating crime, the rate of crime tend to be on the higher side. Whereby the general public end up suffering due to the quick response and tracking of crime by the Nigeria Police Force.

1.3 OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The broad objectives of the project are as follows:

I.            Improve Service Delivery of the police force

II.             To checkmate and control genocide killing in the nation e.g Boko Haram.

III.            Provide Enhanced Tools for Law and Order Maintenance, Investigation, Crime         Prevention.

IV.            Increase Operational Efficiency

V.            Create a platform for sharing crime & criminal information across the country – there is a critical need to create a platform for sharing crime and criminal information across police stations within and between the different states in order to increase the effectiveness in dealing with criminals across the state borders.

1.4 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The working of this project has conceptualized the Crime and Criminals Tracking information system. This is an effort to modernize the Nigerian Police Force giving top priority to citizen services, information gathering, and its dissemination among various police organizations and units across the country.  A need has been felt to adopt a holistic approach to address the requirements of the police, mainly with relation to functions in the police station in the area of crime tracking.  The design of this crime tracking will essentially be relevant to the Nigerian Police Force as it will help eradicate the manual process of crime tracking which usually leads to arresting the innocent citizens while the real criminals get away.

1.5 DEFINITION OF TERMS

Crime: Crime is the breach of rules or law for which some governing authority can ultimately prescribe a conviction.

Computer: A computer is a general purpose device which can be programmed to carry out a finite set of arithmetic or logical operations.

Measure: steps, methods to control situation.

Police: The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by the state to enforce the law, protect property, and limit civil disorder.

Information: Information, in its most restricted technical sense, is a sequence of symbols that can be interpreted as a message.

Investigation: investigation is the act or process of investigating; a careful search or examination in order to discover facts, etc.

Citizenship: Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community.

Authority: Authority often refers to power vested in an individual or organization by the state. Authority can also refer to recognized expertise in an area of academic knowledge.

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