GIS aplication in crime prevention (study case: Ampang Jaya Municipal Council)

• Main Author: Musa, Maasriah
• Format: Book Section
• Language: English
• Published: Universitas Islam Riau Indonesia 2010
• Subjects: GA Mathematical geography. Cartography
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/2708/1/MAASRIAH.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/2708/

Crimes continue to be one of the major concerns in contemporary Malaysian societies especially in the cities. Urban population concentrating in high density has increased opportunities for crimes to occur. There have been evidences that crime incidents are related to land use. This paper discusses a study carried out to investigate the relationship between the nature of crimes committed in a city in Malaysia and the city’s land use characteristics. A total of 2,062 crime incidents categorized into theft, snatch theft, burglary at night and burglary at daylight were analyzed in the study. Spatial statistics was employed to uncover the relationship between types of crime and land use variables such as density, transportation network, land use types, etc. Spatial statistics analyses used were mean center, directional distribution, distribution pattern and hot spot analyses. The findings from the study show that crimes in the area do follow a certain pattern according to crime types and land use variables such as density, accessibility and land use types. These revelations can be helpful to the local authority in reducing crime and in enhancing neighborhood safety. In addition, utilizing spatial statistic function would also help authority such the police department in understanding the crime pattern and finding the best action in preventing crimes.