Public Crime Reporting and Monitoring System Model Using GSM and GIS Technologies: A Case of Zambia Police Service

The proliferation of mobile handheld devices has made them a viable medium for carrying out a wide range of business activities in areas such as education, agricultural, healthy and security. In the area of security, one major problem hindering crime detection and reporting is lack of efficient communication platform between the police and the general public. Mobile technologies using mobile devices is proving to be a more effective implementation for crime detection and monitoring. In this study, we are proposing a crime reporting and management model using GSM and GIS technologies in order to mitigate the challenges faced by most developing countries in reducing the crime rates. We began by a baseline study that was carried out to ascertain how citizens report crime to the police. This was followed by a study that looked at how the Police receive and manage crime information. Based on the baseline study, we then designed a Public Crime Reporting and management System that integrates GMS and GIS Technologies. In our baseline study, the results showed that 68% of the citizens walk to the police station, 30% made phone calls and less than 1% used Short Message Service (SMS), Internet or social media platforms to report crime. In crime reports management, our results showed an absence of an electronic capturing/recording system by the police with 98% of the police stations using a physical log book to record crimes. Using the results from the baseline study, a mobile crime reporting and management system model was developed. Using this model, we developed the prototype which showed improved results in terms crime reporting by the public using mobile devices and improved management of reports due to automation of crime reporting and monitoring. Keywords— Crime Reporting, Crime Monitoring, ICTs, Mobile Application, GPS