Forensic GIS in Crime Mapping of North-West Region of Bihar, India

Development in technologies has changed the types of crime committed so does the investigation of crime. Almost in every forensic investigation digital evidence plays an important role and most of the digital evidence contains data related to location which is also called spatial data. The technology stores & displays geospatial data in the GIS. GIS is an emerging field, and it has vast applications in mapping, environmental management, urban planning, and forensics. Though forensic GIS is still in its infancy, it has the potential to act as an important tool in forensic science.

The objective of this study was Integration of spatial data and non-spatial data & creating a crime map of district Gopalganj, Bihar, India using the QGIS tool and to collect & analyze crime data. Crime data of district Gopalganj from 22 police stations for the year 2020 was collected from the website of the state crime record bureau, Bihar.

Kuchaikote block had highest number of cases as it shares its boundary with Uttar Pradesh, criminals take advantage of it and commit the crime on one side and take shelter on another side. The Crime Map presented in this paper will help law enforcement agencies to analyze the pattern and take appropriate action to prevent the occurrence of crime. Some of the areas which are needed to be explored in the field of crime mapping are geographic profiling and the integration of GPS with GIS. More GIS tools should be created with a forensic perspective in mind. A database can be developed at the state level which would contain a crime map of districts.