Crimescape Analysis of Kolkata, the City of Joy

Abstract

A highly urbanizing system is an expression of admixture of grandeur and sufferings, the privileged and the exploited giving rise to fragile cityscape, vulnerable to crime, that is defined by Paul Tappan (1960) as "an intentional act or omission in violation of criminal law committed without defence or justification and sanctioned by the state for punishment as a felony or a misdemeanour”. A brief perusal of crime in Kolkata is made by plotting the data and information regarding some selected crime types on the city map, thereby trying to apply simple geographical techniques in recognition of crime pattern in the city. Certain crime types are more common than others and spatial disparity in crime numbers is clearly identifiable with an intimate relation with road network and some socio-economic aspects.