Locational Analysis of Police Stations in Bauchi Metropolis, Bauchi State, Nigeria Using GIS

Abstract

Given the security problems in Nigeria particularly in the North, the need for geospatial analysis of security in Bauchi metropolis in relation to police stations cannot be overemphasized. Apart from the prevalence of security problems in the area, current analyses are inadequate, and almost non-existent. To tackle this problem, Global Positioning System (GPS) was used to take the coordinates of police stations in Bauchi Metropolis. The attribute data relating to the number of police personnel in each station were collected using interview and documented data. Simple ratio was used to analyze the data while ArcGIS was used to show the map of the distribution. Nearest neighborhood analysis shows that the distribution of police stations is random in the area. One and two kilometre buffer zones were generated and the result shows that the old city of Bauchi and the eastern part of the metropolis were fully served. On the contrary, the western and southern parts were not adequately served. The ratio of population in the area to a police is 898:1 which is far below the United Nation recommended figure of 450:1. Considering the population growth, the study recommends review of police stations provision in the area as well as increasing the work force as means of achieving a holistic security for the metropolis.

Keywords: Metropolis, Bauchi, Security, Police Station, Buffer Zones, GIS.