Analysis of Spatial Crimes in the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria

Abstract

Most recently spatial crime analysis has become increasingly popular as a practical tool for effective planning of emergency response to crime, crime prediction, law enforcement and as a research and teaching tool in geography, criminal justice, and other related issues. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the procedure used in modeling crimes within the University of Ilorin, Nigeria, using Geographic information Systems (GIS) and statistics to display crime hotspots in low, high and very high scales and a 200m buffering analysis of security beats in relation to crime spots within the University campus. This paper also examined the pattern in the spatial distribution of crime. We analyzed data from the university security records and crime spots containing three years spatially referenced crimes particularly misdemeanor crime. The results showed that crime densities concentrated in the computer-based test (CBT) center, senior and junior staff quarters, faculty of arts, agricultural sciences and communication and information sciences. The findings also indicate that these techniques can be used by policy makers and managers as decision support tools for effective management. It also shows the relationship between spatial location and crime within the institution.