Mapping Crime Hotspots in Akure, Nigeria: A GIS Perspective

Abstract

African countries in recent times have witnessed an unprecedented level of insecurity. This has made national security threat to be a major issue for the government and has prompted huge allocation of the national budget to security. The objective of this paper is to mark out crime hotspot areas in the central area of Akure metropolis; and examine the rate at which crimes are committed, the surveillance method used and its effectiveness. The research made use of Google Earth imagery and Geographical Information System (GIS) technology to delineate crime hotspots in Akure. A 100m buffer was created around the identified crime hotspots to select houses that are susceptible to the impacts of crime activities in the study area. A structured questionnaire was also used to elicit information on crime, surveillance method, and effect of crime on the people and level of occurrence in the city among others. Findings identified six major crimes in eight hotspot areas; noise, loss of property and threat to life were some of the effects of hotspots on residents. The paper recommends construction/repair of roads in the core residential areas for effective surveillance of hotspots. The use of satellite images to combat crime in the city is also canvassed.