SUMAMA:
A POLICE CRIME PATROL MONITORING, SUPERVISION AND
MANAGEMENT SYSTEM USING VIDEO AND GPS IN CRIME RIDDEN AREAS.
BY
BSE15-55
MOBILE TRACKING APPLICATION SYSTEM
DEPARTMENT OF NETWORKS
SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS TECHNOLOGY
A Concept Paper submitted
to the School of Computing and Informatics Technology
For the Study Leading to a Project Proposal in Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Award of the Degree of Bachelor of
Science in Software Engineering of Makerere University.
Supervisor
GRACE KAMULEGEYA
Department of Networks
School of Computing and Informatics Technology, Makerere University
kougaus@gmail.com, +256-41-540628, Fax: +256-41-540620
September 2014
GROUP MEMBERSHIP :
#
Names
Registration Number
1
LWANYAGA YUSUF
11/U/16212/EVE
2
MBATUDDE DIANAH
11/U/16371/EVE
3
KAFUKO WILSON
11/U/23612/PS
4
NYAKANA GILBERT
11/U/9238/PS
Signature
1.0
Introduction
Uganda police is currently using a manual patrol system at night where every police station has a
defined geographical area under its supervision to ensure safety of people and their property so
as to reduce the crime rate within those areas. The police station management allocates areas of
night patrol to various police officers who physically go to monitor the places throughout the
entire night.
2.0
Background to the Problem
Patrol is the main business of policing among all police stations in Uganda [1]. Every police
station is responsible for conducting patrols around a specific geographically demarcated area
surrounding its strategic location. [2]Patrol system is composed of the patrol officers, in charge
officers at the station who communicate with the patrol groups in the field and the public that
calls to request for assistance in case of any emergencies. Patrols are either regular or situational
depending on the circumstance and zone that triggers the patrol activities [2]. Patrol officers use
foot or motorized patrol that is vehicle or motor cycles to police various areas and use radio calls
to communicate amongst each other and even with those at the station [2]. Patrol policing helps
to prevent crime and disorder by their watchfulness, intervene when they discover law breaking
in progress [1]and also respond to citizen requests for assistance for example fire outbreak
emergencies. However, the patrol system faces some challenges during operation like;
communication challenge where radio signals become weak or go off and stations cannot trace
the location of patrol officers [2], some officers engage in unlawful practices in the field since no
one is there to monitor them [2]and also the failure to execute fair judgment due to lack of
evidence collection tools at the crime scene [2] where police officials who are scheduled to
patrol large geographical areas at night decide to only patrol some areas and neglect others which
give room to crimes in the non patrolled areas and all these contribute to the ineffectiveness in
the current patrol system thus leading to an increase in the crime rate in Uganda.
3.0
Problem statement
Uganda police is subdivided into various police stations where every station is responsible for
monitoring a very wide geographical area [3]. The patrol system is identified as being ineffective
due to the high and increasing crime rate reported annually [4] and this is as a result of; few
police officers at every police station that are responsible for physically patrolling very large
geographical areas [2] throughout the night without police management supervision, failure of
the police officers to patrol all areas because they can only be in one place at a time, some patrol
groups may decide not to patrol the areas because they know that no one is there to monitor their
work [2], there is also a challenge of knowing where crimes are most likely to happen and police
concentrates in only such places leaving out others with a less likely hood and criminals take
advantage of that and attack the less suspected areas [2].
4.0
Objectives
1. Main Objective
The aim of this study is to study and analyze the police patrol system, design and
implement a system that can be used in increasing the effectiveness of police crime
patrols in given areas.
2. Other objectives
The specific objectives of this study are:
1. To study, collect and analyze the requirements about the current Police patrol system.
2. Using the analyzed data about the current system, we design an application to automate
some of the processes involved in the crime patrol system.
3. To implement the designed system from (2) above.
4. To test the system at various levels of development at class, module, and integration
level.
5.0
Methodology
Wandegeya police station will be used as the case study for SUMAMA system.
The requirement will be collected using different methods like interviewing the Wandegeya
police station patrol department officials and the people in different patrol zones that are under
Wandegeya police station, questionnaires and reading documents about police patrol.
Requirements will then be evaluated by the system development team and all the other system
stake holders to ensure that the necessary scope is covered during the system implementation.
The evaluated requirements will then be used to design the SUMAMA system. The system will
be composed of the mobile application side which will use GPS technology and the web
application side. MYSQL database will be hosted on the server and will link the web and the
mobile side of the system.
6.0
Outcomes
1. Improving effectiveness in the police patrol system through enabling patrol unit to
monitor and supervise patrol officers’ movements through the system and also enable
easy assessment and management the data collected and submitted to the station by the
patrol officers.
2. Enhancing security and reducing the crime rate in all areas under a given police station
by enabling the system to auto-monitor all the zones under supervision of the particular
police post.
3. In case a crime is reported in an area, the system will help identify the nearest police
officer and thus inform him to reach the crime scene or in cases where the officers are
further away, deployment of other police officers can be done.
4. The system will be used as a tool to bridge the gap between the public and the police
since citizens will be able to alert or request assistance from the police through the
system thus enabling full utilization of the patrol department which may use the patrol as
waiting mechanism at the station.
5. Improving communication among the patrol groups and the police station since the GPS
system will not be affected by radio signals and this will also help secure lives of the
patrol officers in the various that may need assistance from the station.
6. Public policing will also be introduced indirectly where the citizens will be able to
communicate to the station about the misconduct of some police officers who may
misuse their powers and tools to contradict with the law.
7.0
References
[1] Wesley Slogan and Kathleen Fredyl Bowsprit. ( 2011, September) StudyMode.com. [Online].
http://www.studymode.com/essays/The-Purpose-And-Efectiveness-Of-Police-772005.html
[2] Kafuko, Nyakana and Lwanyaga Mbatudde, "Interview," in Sumama Interview guide, Kampala,
November 2014.
[3] Muhindo Clare. (2014, August) newvision. [Online]. www.newvision.co.ug
[4] Dr. Kasimbazi Emmanuel, "CRIME VICTIMISATION AND REPORTING," Human Rights NetworkUganda, Kampala, Perceptions and Facts 2010.