The sharp rise of crime in Turkey for the last decade is mainly from high growth of population and local immigration. Unemployment and deprivation have caused dense local immigration with separated families and confused people. Dwellings without planning permission gathered multi-background people in the ghettos of metropolitan cities where crime is flourishing.
Bursa, one of the most industrialised cities in Turkey, is experiencing a high level of local immigration; population increases geometrically where the number of police officers, equipments and resources increase arithmetically. The gap between the resources and the crime urged strategic investment to improve the effectiveness of policing. Bursa Police Department (BPD) decided to tackle crime not only by conventional policing methods, but also to benefit from information and communication technologies (ICT) to a higher degree.
BPD is one of the pioneers of crime mapping with geographic information systems (GIS) and crime analysis in Turkey. BPD initiated creating her own records management system (RMS) and using mobile data terminals (MDT) based on the latest technology. The need for querying records of suspects and recognition of criminals on the beat, BPD developed face/appearance recognition and classification software for profiling criminals.
In 2004, contrary to the fact that crime rate increased all over Turkey by 10%, Bursa experienced 10.7% decrease due to effective usage of crime databases and crime maps as well as deploying special units accordingly. For the first quarter of 2005, crime rate continued to fall by 9.6% in proportion to crime rate in 2004. The use of ICT at BPD is an unending process of learning and development. The presentation intends to guide similar efforts for the use of crime database and crime mapping which we believe will eventually be spread throughout other departments in Turkey.
1. INTRODUCTION Recently, due to the result of sharp rise of population and unemployment in Turkey there has been an increase of crime within metropolitan cities like Bursa. In 2003 the number of reported street crimes in Turkey was 321805 where it increased by 10% to 353692 in 2004. Where as in Bursa there were reported 14988 crimes in 2004 compared to 16787 in 2003.
Figure 1: Street Crimes in Turkey 2003 represented in thematic mapping, per 100000 person. (Source: http://www.egm.gov.tr/asayis/istatistik2003_2004.asp)
1 ANTALYA 1.719.751 6.503 8.164 14.667 56 853 2 İSTANBUL 10.018.735 29.147 53.382 82.529 65 824 3 GAZİANTEP 1.285.249 4.756 5.776 10.532 55 819 4 BURSA 2 .125.140 10.246 6.541 16.787 39 790 5 ANKARA 4.007.860 20.772 10.115 30.887 33 771 6 MERSİN 1.651.400 9.625 1.926 11.551 17 699 7 BURDUR 256.803 1.408 3 06 1.714 18 667 8 İZMİR 3.370.866 14.716 7.766 22.482 35 667 9 KIRIKKALE 383.508 1.650 3 69 2.019 18 526 10 KIRŞEHİR 253.239 1.159 1 48 1.307 11 516 11 ÇORUM 597.065 2.070 8 55 2.925 29 490 12 NİĞDE 348.081 1.348 3 40 1.688 20 485 13 ESKİŞEHİR 706.009 2.719 7 02 3.421 21 485 14 EDİRNE 402.606 1.733 1 94 1.927 10 479 15 KASTAMONU 375.416 1.580 1 77 1.757 10 468
Table 1: Street Crimes in Turkey 2003 in figures.
(Source: http://www.egm.gov.tr/asayis/istatistik2003_2004.asp)
As a result total decrease of street crimes was 10.7% which basically depends on effective use of policing methods and crime mapping analysis efforts. Bursa had the fourth highest crime rates all over the Turkey in 2003 where it has the tenth highest rates in 2004.
Figure 2: Street Crimes in Turkey 2004 represented in thematic mapping, per 100000 person.
(Source: http://www.egm.gov.tr/asayis/istatistik2003_2004.asp)
Department has decided to tackle crime problem by benefiting from information technologies. In this paper crime mapping analysis and its impact in Bursa Police Department who pioneers crime mapping analysis in Turkey is explained.
2. WHY MAP CRIME? Maps are so useful tools for representing crime phenomena. In general terms, maps are ;
• pictorial information about locations and spaces, • helpful for imagining abstract truths, • capable of symbolising data which are worth thousands of words, • good at giving opportunity for some information to be seen at first sight (Harries,1999).
On the eve of information age, the criteria for efficiency and the success of combating crime is measured by effective usage of information technologies. Statistics, as a quantitative method of analysing crime, is widely used for creating strategies for crime reduction and prevention (MACA, 2002a). Unfortunately it is not always possible to understand all aspects of crime data by only using statistical methods. Many crime events and other related social trends can be seen, evaluated and analysed without overloading of numbers, rates, and statistics. These results bring new strategies for possible crime events in the future (MACA, 2002b).
Crime mapping analysis effectively explains correlations between location and crime as well as relations amongst offender-victim-timeline with graphical interfaces such as maps, charts, reports. Crime mapping is one of the most effective ways of analysing and understanding crime (Markovic and Stone, 2002).
In general terms crime mapping is spatial and temporal representation of all crime related data which are available in paper-based documents and digital Records Management Systems (RMS) by using state-of-art Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and digital map layers of selected location. As it can be deduced from its definition, in order to create crime maps crime data and digital map layers are essentially required.
Crime mapping has brought a new approach to crime prevention efforts. Crime maps provide easiness and practicality to apprehend many complex spatial crime data so easy to be seen at one sight. Numerous types of crimes and other realities represented by colours, symbols, charts to be understand easily. Streets, neighbourhoods, buildings, bus-stops on digital map layers can be accessed and queried if needed to relate crime events.
Figure 3: A query made for a homicide event where GIS opens related table by clicking on crime location. (Source: Bursa Police Department, Information Processing Unit, 2001)
Apart from representing crime and criminality crime maps also help police officers and executives to recognise their areas of responsibility. Since crime maps are produced according to crime databases, related personnel can acquire intelligence very fast and at satisfying levels. Lack of proper crime databases and maps result some failures where personnel are inexperienced and unaware of specialities of the neighbourhoods.
3. CRIME MAPPING APPLICATICATIONS IN BURSA In 2001, the decision of using new method of policing was made by the police executives to use crime mapping, crime analysis and crime databases in the most effective ways that the gap between the resources of Bursa Police Department and growing numbers of crime can only be solved by effective use of resources. Bursa Police Department decided to fight crime also by benefiting from information and communication technologies at maximum levels. Initial maps were created for serious crimes in 2000 and 2001. One of the examples of very early crime maps are exhibited in Figure 4 which is the thematic map of vehicle burglary and burglary from vehicles in 2001.
Figure 4: Thematic map of vehicle burglary and burglary from vehicles in 2001
(Source: Bursa Police Department, Information Processing Unit 2001)
The existing crime mapping applications in Bursa Police Department can classified within six types of policing tasks; planning patrol locations and resource allocation,command and control, monitoring displacement & temporal changes, automated reporting and information sharing, crime analysis and public acknowledgement.
3.1. PLANNING PATROL LOCATIONS AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION According to produced crime maps, resources such as patrols, vehicles and equipment are concentrated on high density crime locations. Plans are made in consideration with crime hotspots then patrol routes and timing of patrol services are arranged accordingly. Instead of random patrol services around random neighbourhoods, contemporary understanding of preventive patrols are realised in high crime rated streets within crime occurred peak times by benefiting crime maps.
Figure 5: Newly created street patrols also equipped with Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs).
They can access data on the beat when required (Source: Bursa Police Department 2004) The success achieved in 2004 mainly depended on creation of new street patrol teams in accordance with effective use of crime databases and crime maps. Responsibility areas of street patrol teams are redesigned according to crime maps. In 2005, the locations and police beats of 35 new automobile patrols are decided according to new crime hotspots occurred within the city. Regular crime maps and acknowledgement of crime hotspots to patrols resulted to a satisfying level of crime reduction.
3.2. COMMAND AND CONTROL Police executives decide new plans and strategies on crime suffering neighbourhoods with the aid of crime maps produced. These plans are passed quickly to subordinates as memorandums and reports with crime maps attached to them.
3.3. MONITORING DISPLACEMENT & TEMPORAL CHANGES Because of strict measures taken as a response to crime hotspots, displacement of crime is a common fact of policing. These temporal changes are monitored on crime maps very easily and new responses are made accordingly.
3.4. AUTOMATED REPORTING AND INFORMATION SHARING In regular terms, crime maps and crime statistics are reported and evaluated within meetings where decisions and results are shared with other local authorities (Ratcliffe, 1999).
3.5. CRIME ANALYSIS Produced crime maps and statistics are analysed by professional problem solving crime analysts. Researchers and professional crime analysts within universities show interest for academic research. Uludag University of Bursa and Istanbul University Forensic Science Institute are academic partners for our Research & Development efforts.
3.6. PUBLIC ACKNOWLEDGEMENT Produced crime maps and analysis results are shared with public. Official crime reports acknowledged by the public have positive impact on community-based policing applications and feed-back from local neighborhoods. Figure 6 below represents homicides occurred in 2001. It is surprisingly fact that 12 homicides out of 28 has occurred in the same Police Beat (namely S.S. Yilmaz Police Station). The neighborhood is informed about the fact and highest preventive measures realized with the cooperation of neighborhood.
Figure 6: Homicides occurred in 2001
(Source: Bursa Police Department, Information Processing Unit 2001)
4. CONCLUSION: LESSONS LEARNED AT BURSA When almost five years of crime mapping and analysis applications considered, there many good results produced in terms of policing. But there were some further points,many of them were technical IT drawbacks, required to be handled with crime mapping applications. Lessons learned in this five-year-process are explained below.
4.1. ACTION FOR COMMUNITY POLICING
As a result of good results produced after usage of crime mapping analysis, at the beginning of 2003 initiatives launched for community-based policing, for this end a workgroup is created at the police department. Rather than trying to solve every single security and crime problem one-by-one, it has been aimed to inform community members about high risk problems within their neighborhoods. According to the records of 2002, maps for every neighborhood and every single street for selected four types of crime are produced and published in media to be delivered to local crime units to be shared by local people. These crime types were burglary from dwellings and houses, burglary from vehicles, vehicle burglary and burglary from non-residential premises. Apart from these meetings all patrols and other police staff are submitted to regular crime analysis meetings where the message was passed to all members of police department: It is not possible to fight crime by only policing, contributions from locals, non-governmental organizations and the citizens on the streets are essential. The support of local people against crime is a must.
4.2. SOLVING DATA ENTRY AND GEOCODING PROBLEMS
Although it is possible to represent crime locations by plotting (as pins) by manual geocoding, contemporary GISs automatically geocode locations in relation with digital map layers, such as street map layers and parcel layers. In automated geocoding locations are interrelated to existing street names, door numbers or latitudes-longitudes and recorded in specific fields within tables of databases.
It has been observed that data entry errors prevented 100% accurate crime maps which can misguide users. One possible reason for this is lack of standards for naming locations, but even street names are subject to change within time. Local governments should never change street names without the acknowledgement of police departments. Update of digital map layers should be done at least three or four times within a year, otherwise technical issues on base maps can result confusion among police officers. One of the main inaccuracy problems was due to unpopular forms of crime reports, department decided to add latitude and longitude fields for every crime incident to make sure that data entry error is minimized. Even if data entry error is not made by the officer on the beat while filling in the form manually, during the phase of data entry to digital database at the computers produced similar errors. To overcome this problem totally, interfaces which are shown below were added to records management system (RMS) and automatically related to GIS.
Figure 7: Interface for Crime Locations at RMS.
Figure 8: Data Entry Form for Crime Incident at RMS.
Figure 9: Data Entry Form for Persons at RMS.
4.3. ENCOUREGEMENT OF LOCAL CRIME DATABASE USAGE
In 2004, more than 1000 convicted criminals or suspects who were subject to search warrants are coughed by the street patrols because of using crime databases on the field. From mobile data terminals it takes only a couple of second to check a person’s ID information. But databases used at local levels must be at satisfying size. The much it grows, the more criminals can be found with hit score. That is why local crime databases on all levels must be supported financially. All paper-based records should be transferred to databases in digital formats. The table below represents the number of records at Bursa Police Department’s local database.
RECORDS ENTERED BETWEEN 01.01.1994 - 09.05.2005 TOTAL CRIME RECORDS 138.935 TOTAL NUMBER OF OFFENDERS 96.759 TOTAL NUMBER OF PERSONS (EXCLUDING OFFENDERS)111.910 GROSS TOTAL 347.604 Table 3: (Source: Bursa Police Department, 2005)
When other cities in Turkey considered, the only dating back to 1994 crime records local database is belong to Bursa Police Department. This disadvantage for other police departments in Turkey can be exampled as a person who is so powerful but who can’t remember his enemies in his past. All police departments in Turkey urgently need to create their own crime databases by themselves. Old crime records and ex-criminal intelligence can be used for pre-emptive policing even before crime has occurred.
4.4. MORE SOFTWARE FOR SOPHISTICATED CRIME ANALYSIS
When good results are produced Bursa Police Department sought for more satisfaction from IT technologies. In 2001, as the first time in Turkish Policing History crime database integrated crime maps were produced. These crime maps contributed to developing problem solving policing in Bursa. After initialising Geographic Information Systems (GIS) there had been a demand for Mobile Data Terminals (MDTs) which are used on the beat.
Apart from text-based queries there were demands from the staff about creating a software module which integrates existing crime databases as well as including photographs of suspects and offenders. This was simply because some calls for services and applications to police were about some people whose ID information are not known. The only evidence was about their appearances which can only be identified by comparison. In 2004 a new module for existing crime database was launched in order to address this issue. By 09th of May 2005, “Appearance Module for Crime Database” includes 8272 male and 768 female 9040 in total subjects to be used for querying by appearance.
4.5. NEXT GENERATION POLICING: GEOGRAPHIC PROFILING
Geographic profiling was pioneered by Detective Inspector Kim Rossmo, the first police officer in Canada with a PhD in Criminology. Dr. Rossmo’s research was on a sophisticated software system called Rigel that uses the technology in crime analysis, digital mapping, database integration, and visual presentation tools. In the 1980s, researchers at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, Canada, began to focus upon the geography of the criminal act rather than just the motivation of the criminal(the question of where, versus the why). The research found that humans tend to follow predictable patterns of movements (Rossmo, 2000).
Although famous geographic profiling software Rigel is not available at Bursa geographic profiling has been tried on some examples of crime series in Bursa and results are promising. These crime types are homicides, sexual rapes, arsons, vandalism and serial burglaries. Figure 13 represents a serial burglary offender C.A. `s relation between crime scene and his residence. As it can be seen offender basically operated in his neighbourhood as well as neighbourhoods which he knows best.
Figure 13: The yellow symbol of anchor point is C.A. ` s home.
We have found some profiling patterns for homicides, burglaries, street snatching, auto thefts, drug delivery areas, and crimes train/metro/bus stops.
Figure 14: Street snatching is an increasing crime which can be profiled to main streets within the town centre
Each of geographic profiles has typical patterns which can be applied to other cities in Turkey, but cultural and location differences vary for geographic profiling (Brantingham and Brantingham, 1984). These changes must be taken into consideration. Bursa Police Department encourages existing cooperating crime analysts to conduct research for geographical profiling.
REFERENCES
Brantingham, Paul J. and Brantingham, Patricia L. (1984). Patterns in Crime. New York, NY; Macmillan.
Harries, K. (1999). Mapping Crime: Principle and Practice. National Institute of Justice Crime Mapping Research Centre (CMRC) (Online) [http://www.ncjrs.org/html/nij/mapping/pdf.html]
MACA (Massachusetts Association of Crime Analysts) (2002a). A History of Crime Analysis (Online)[http://www.macrimeanalysts.com/articles/historyofcrimeanalysis.pdf]
MACA (Massachusetts Association of Crime Analysts) (2002b). What is crime analysis? (Online) [http://www.macrimeanalysts.com/aboutca.html]
Markovic, J.Stone, C. (2002). Crime Mapping And Policing Of Democratic Societies. Vera Institute of Justice; New York
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Rossmo, D. K. (2000). Geographic profiling. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.
