What happened when and where

Probably the most important question in police operations: Where am I and if so, how many? Admittedly, this is a tired joke, but anyone who has been on duty during a rally, soccer match or other major incident knows that there is some truth to it. Geoinformation can play an immensely important role in police operations. It helps to quickly grasp situations and make decisions, it shows risks and opportunities, it provides an overview when the situation seems chaotic. A map can make the difference between success and failure.

The inter-agency GIS-GDI central office provides these maps. "Above all, we make it possible to incorporate information from all police systems into the maps," says Julia Howar. She and her colleagues see themselves as service providers who do everything that is technically possible, from paper maps for public relations work to digital, interactive heat maps including drone images. The possibilities are almost inexhaustible. In the area of crime, for example: knowing what happened where and when naturally helps to identify patterns and trends. "This makes it easier to plan both repressive and preventive measures," says Maike Obenhaus.

For example, the central office has created a map showing all ATMs in the country. Based on the location and the way in which the ATMs are protected, it was possible to create a risk analysis. "Of course, it is not possible to predict where and when which ATM will be blown up, but it is clear to see which locations are most likely to be attacked and where it is worth checking a little more often," says André Hinsenhofe. "We were also able to help with an attempted rape in Aachen city center," he adds. The perpetrator was moving around the city on an e-scooter. Based on the location data of all scooter providers for the day, it was possible to show on a map that only one person could have been near the victim with a scooter in the crucial three minutes. He was thus convicted.

The work of the central office is also in demand in the area of traffic. Where are the accident blackspots? Can patterns be recognized? When do traffic jams develop and how can traffic flow again? All these questions can be answered and documented using interactive maps. The aim is to avoid serious accidents. And thanks to artificial intelligence, autonomous driving and the networking of all data, the future can only be guessed at the moment. Cars will only become intelligent when they know exactly where they are. The car of the future will know the exact location of danger spots in milliseconds - from aquaplaning to wrong-way drivers - and it will react just as quickly. The task of the police and traffic control will then be to have an overview of the big picture, to know what is going on and to react as quickly as possible.

This is already a reality in large-scale operations. For example, at soccer matches in Mönchengladbach, where the police are already using digital maps to plan operations and, what's more, react to current events. How are the visiting team's fans arriving, where are the anomalies, what is the traffic situation like? Where is something developing? This year's carnival parade in Mönchengladbach was also recorded digitally and in real time. This allowed everyone involved to see what happened where and when. "We have many options," says Isabel Stiebner. For example, objects can be flown over with drones to create a three-dimensional image in which each object can be marked and analyzed. Especially in the run-up to major events, this provides added safety for both visitors and the emergency services.

The future? Thanks to the progressive networking of people, there are actually no limits. "Except, of course, that provided for by data protection and legislation," says the central office.