TITLE:
GIS Based Spatial and Temporal Analysis of Crimes, a Case Study of Mardan City, Pakistan
AUTHORS:
Pukhtoon Yar, Jamal Nasir
KEYWORDS:
GIS, Remote Sensing, Crimes, Mardan City
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.7 No.3,
March
22,
2016
ABSTRACT: This paper is aimed to study the crime
with special reference to its spatial and temporal distribution. It also tries
to analyze and estimates the impact of weather on the prevalence of criminal
activity in Mardan City. Studying the crimes with reference to its spatial and
temporal distribution is important because information about the occurrence of
crime is one of the most crucial tools in combating crime. It allows
understanding how crimes are distributed through space, and hence can help in
combating them. The Geographical Information System is an important tool for
dealing with spatial and temporal analysis and thus fighting crime. The advent
of desktop computers has significantly increased the role of computer mapping.
The availability of user-friendly GIS applications has further increased the
use of GIS in crime mapping. For the present study the data was collected about
homicide and aggressive assaults from all the three police stations covering
Mardan City. The collected data was analyzed under different scenarios. The
temporal based analysis of data reveals that almost 50% crimes reported in
2009, took place from May-September (summer) compared to 32% in winter (October
to February). The spatial analysis of data reveals 05 hotspots. Sikindary area
was identified as the most crucial hotspot where within a 05 km radius, 11
crimes were committed in 2009 followed by Kalpani Bridge area from where a
total of 10 crimes of aggressive nature were reported. Similarly police station
wise the City Police Station accounts for 47% of the aggressive crimes
committed in 2009.