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Writer's pictureArpit Shah

Location Analytics Workflows for Law Enforcement

Updated: Nov 19

There is a certain charm in solving a case involving crime - from inspecting the incident site and investigating the suspects to uncovering the motive and identifying the culprit. People of all ages tend to enjoy the unraveling of mystery in novels and movies. While the content tends to be fictional, the addition of '...based on a true story' increases the thrill-factor manifold.


What if such a story is narrated by the real-life protagonist? Wouldn't that be doubly fascinating? If your answer is in the affirmative, you are likely to enjoy this TEDx Talk by IPS Amit Lodha-


Video 1: How to be a Top Cop? | Amit Lodha | TEDxYouth@JPIS


All crimes, with the exception of cyber, occur at a physical spot(s). And anything which involves positional information can always be mapped - which aids in accurate interpretation and reveals interesting insights. Modern Mapping technology - GIS (Geographic Information System) is widely used for several Law Enforcement Workflows - four of which I will cover in this post.

 

SECTION HYPERLINKS


 

1. Coverage Mapping of Police Stations to ensure Rapid Response


GIS-based Location Analytics helps Law Enforcement agencies to plot and interpret historical Crime data and make informed decisions about resource allocation. The map below depicts all recorded Crime locations and Police Station locations in a city comprising five districts over a period of time.

Recent Crime spots and Police Station locations in five districts within Lincoln, Nebraska (USA)
Figure 1: Recent Crime spots and Police Station locations in five districts within Lincoln, Nebraska (USA)

Using geoprocessing tools within GIS, I have prepared a map (Figure 2 below) which depicts those zones in the city that are within rapid reach of the Police Station network - the pink-shaded areas are reachable within 5 minutes of Drive Time from a Police Station. The geoprocessing takes into account the City Road Network (Real-time Traffic, provided the dataset is available, can also be factored in the Drive Time computation).

5-minute Drive-Time Computation in ArcGIS Online
Figure 2: 5-minute Drive-Time Computation in ArcGIS Online

This helps me to calculate that 922 out of the 1025 historical Crime sites (black dots) are located within the 5-minute Drive Time zone implying that the coverage of Police Stations is ~90% (assuming historical spots are a good predictor of the future locations of Crime). That being said, you will observe that several areas within Lincoln City limits (outlined in thick-black) do not have rapid response coverage - that Crimes have not occurred there in abundance historically is another matter altogether.


A Density / Heat map of the historical Crime sites (Figure 3 below) would help Law Enforcement to observe the underlying pattern and gain insights-

Discrete v/s Density depiction - Crime Map
Figure 3: Discrete v/s Density depiction - Crime Map

Upon overlaying the Heat Map layer on the Rapid Response layer (Figure 4 below), one can identify the areas within the city which need attention - the blue zones on the fringes of the city should be prioritized for rapid response coverage through the addition of new Police Stations.

Overlay of Police Coverage on Crime Density in ArcGIS Online
Figure 4: Overlay of Police Coverage on Crime Density

One can continue refining the analysis on the GIS platform - for example, what is the minimum number of new Police Stations needed and where to set them up so as to enable maximum coverage of the unaddressed city fringes. Optimization and Network Modelling capabilities are very much included in power Location Analytics platforms / GIS.

 

2. Map-based Operations Dashboard to monitor Crime


While I had not categorized Crime records in the previous workflow, visualizing it by the degree of Severity would be much more meaningful for Law Enforcement.


Upon clicking Figure 5 below, you'll be redirected to an interactive Map-based Crime Dashboard of Yakima Police Department (USA). The Dashboard is dynamic - it allows the viewer to visualize the Crime data across multiple categories and time-horizons. Do use the filters and navigation options to explore this real-life and highly useful Map-based Application for Law Enforcement.

Esri's Operations Dashboard - Crime statistics in a Central American country
Figure 5: Esri's Operations Dashboard - Crime statistics in a Central American country
CCTV footage integrated with maps
Figure 6: CCTV footage integrated with maps

As depicted in Figure 6 to your left, one can integrate Video feeds to such Operations Dashboards as well - be it CCTV footage, Drone footage and so on. This would enhance the utility of the Application by several notches. For decision makers within Law enforcement, Location Analytics platforms not only helps in understanding historical developments but also assists in monitoring real-time Operations as well as predicting future scenarios.

 

3. Innocuous Medical Prescriptions or a Deadly Drug-Trafficking Ring?


Unearthing a Drug-trafficking ring by analyzing hundreds of innocuous Medical Prescriptions - if this sounds interesting to you, you will definitely appreciate the video below which demonstrates how advanced Location Analytics modules help Law Enforcement to detect sophisticated Crime-


The geoprocessing was done using an advanced Location Analytics module - ArcGIS Insights 

Video 2: Unearthing sophisticated Drug-Trafficking operations by performing Location Analytics on Medical Prescription records

 

4. Analyzing Cell Tower Records to isolate Suspects


IPS Amit Lodha (Police) highlighted in his TEDx Talk how he monitored the criminal's phone location to triangulate and nab him. Now imagine a scenario where Law Enforcement is not aware of who the criminal is and thus, have to sift through plenty of telecom records in a bid to detect patterns and shortlist potential Suspects. Modern Location Analytics platforms (GIS) are robust - they can handle extraordinary amount of data. The map in Figure 7 below depicts 1.28 million cellular location records of nearly 2500 mobile phone users over a period of 45 days obtained from Telecom Towers.


Law enforcement has isolated 3 Zones (shaded in purple) where they believe the Crime syndicate is operating from and now they are tasked with identifying Suspects who have visited all these 3 zones in a 45-day time frame-

Purple-shaded Zones are where the Crime Syndicate is believed to be operating from
Figure 7: Purple-shaded Zones are where the Crime Syndicate is believed to be operating from
Cell Phone location data record sample
Figure 8: Cell Phone location data record sample

Being able to handle vast quantity of data notwithstanding, you may feel it would still be an arduous, time-consuming task to use Mapping platforms to navigate the Cell Tower dataset in a bid to detect any meaningful patterns that would lead Law Enforcement to the Criminals. As I'll demonstrate below, there are unique ways to filter out less important data and emphasize the vital parameters.


Figure 9 below displays a Chart prepared on the Mapping Platform which depicts the statistics of those Cell Phone users who have traveled to two or more Crime Zones in the last 45 days -

Chart-based depiction of Mobile phone users who have travelled to 2 or more Crime Zone locations in the last 45 days
Figure 9: Chart-based depiction of Mobile phone users who have travelled to 2 or more Crime Zone locations in the last 45 days
'Select by Attribute' tool helps to filter out less relevant data points
Figure 10: 'Select by Attribute' tool helps to filter out less relevant data points






Law Enforcement wishes to study the movement of three individuals and have used a geoprocessing tool - 'Select by Attributes' (Figure 10 on your left) to focus on their movement.













Output after running the 'Select by Attributes' geoprocessing tool
Figure 11: Output after running the 'Select by Attributes' geoprocessing tool

Furthermore, and more importantly, Law Enforcement will now sift the Spatial data through Time. See the video demonstration below-

Video 3: Sifting Cell Tower Records of Suspects through time on GIS Platform


While Positional data itself is useful to perform meaningful analytics on a GIS platform - analyzing this data temporally is even more insightful. Spatiotemporal Analysis is a level-up on Spatial Analysis.


See this post of mine involving Spatiotemporal analysis of Road Accident records to detect Hotspots.

 

CONCLUSION


Because Location Analytics for Crime is a niche field, certain geoprocessing tools have been custom-built for the practitioners, bundled and sold as an add-on module in a GIS package. Explore a 'StoryMap' of one such module by clicking on Figure 12 below-

Esri StoryMap on Crime
Figure 12: Esri StoryMap on Crime

Thus, Geographic Information System allows Law Enforcement to perform advanced Analytics to interpret and mitigate Crime. These platforms can handle tons of location data points and as highlighted in the four workflows in this post, one can perform Tactical analysis, Strategic analysis, Insight analysis and Operations visualization on it.


See all these aspects come together in a the video below involving deploying Situational Awareness for a Sporting Event-


Video 4: Esri Case Study: Special Event Operations–Richmond International Raceway


 

ABOUT US


Intelloc Mapping Services | Mapmyops.com is based in Kolkata, India and engages in providing Mapping solutions that can be integrated with Operations Planning, Design and Audit workflows. These include but are not limited to - Drone ServicesSubsurface Mapping ServicesLocation Analytics & App DevelopmentSupply Chain ServicesRemote Sensing Services and Wastewater Treatment. The services can be rendered pan-India, some even globally, and will aid an organization to meet its stated objectives especially pertaining to Operational Excellence, Cost Reduction, Sustainability and Growth.


Broadly, our area of expertise can be split into two categories - Geographic Mapping and Operations Mapping. The Infographic below highlights our capabilities.

Mapmyops (Intelloc Mapping Services) - Range of Capabilities and Problem Statements that we can help address
Mapmyops (Intelloc Mapping Services) - Range of Capabilities and Problem Statements that we can help address

Our 'Mapping for Operations'-themed workflow demonstrations can be accessed from the firm's Website / YouTube Channel and an overview can be obtained from this flyer. Happy to address queries and respond to documented requirements. Custom Demonstration, Training & Trials are facilitated only on a paid-basis. Looking forward to being of service.


Regards,

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