CHENNAI: The Chennai police is planning to implement a system of crime mapping using the Geographic Information System (GIS) to identify crime hotspots. The GIS-based mapping technology will boost police intelligence by providing data-based accurate information regarding the crime and criminal.
Talking about the technology, Additional Commissioner (South) N Kannan told The New Indian Express that the new system will help the force make use of data and information to equip themselves with precise decision-making intelligence.
He said, "There are four main factors: the nature of the crime, the place, the time and the criminal. These will be plotted on the map and this data will provide necessary information to the officer. This is called evidence-based policing."
According to reports, the map will have data from the last five years, FIR details from the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems (CCTNS), CSR information from police stations, call data from control rooms of emergency helpline 100, 112, 1098, 1091, and 181, and inputs from Kavalan SOS mobile application.
Kannan said that the data will be useful in studying and understanding a criminal’s pattern and method. He said the new technology will introduce a technique called predictive analysis, where officers can predict an action before the criminal commits crime using the data from his previous crime.
"Even after a criminal is released from jail, they will not drastically change their pattern and areas of operation. Data of previous crimes will help monitor their activities," he said.
One of the main advantages of mapping is that police officers can organise awareness programmes for people living in and around a particular criminal hotspot. "Data from the State Crime Record Bureau (SCRB) will be added and within two-three months, the mapping technology will add teeth to investigation and prevention of crime," the additional commissioner said.