Integrated Analysis of Crime Incidents within a Loose-Coupled GIS-Based System: Case of Etlik Police Station Zone in 2000

Abstract

The empirical testing of theories of the new ecology of crime (place-based theories) requires systems that permit the use of multiple analytical tools at a time. For this purpose, in this paper a loose-coupled GIS-based system is developed to facilitate an integrated quantitative analysis of place-related (in terms of both space and time) incident data through data input-output. The system comprises five components: a relational database management system; document and spreadsheet software; a standard desktop GIS; statistical software; and a spatial statistics/spatial data analysis tool. To test the place-based theoretical approach, the spatial and temporal distribution of incidents in the year 2000 against people, property, and people and property within the Etlik Police Station Zone, which is characterized by different development patterns (i.e., planned, early stage gecekondu (squatter) and in-transition settlements), are analyzed using the developed system. The findings of the paper supported the new ecology theories at a mezo-micro (intra-urban) ecological level, in that the incidents displayed differences in their global and local scale spatial and temporal distribution in different development patterns. The developed system proved to be an effective means of carrying out complicated quantitative analyses, while also providing a flexible and comparative environment for such analyses.

 Keywords: Loose-coupled GIS-based system, crime pattern analysis, new ecology (place-based) theories of crime, global-scale properties, local-scale properties  

Keywords

• Loose-coupled GIS-based system, crime pattern analysis, new ecology (place-based) theories of crime, global-scale properties, local-scale properties

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