IIT Kanpur startup uses AI for crime mapping and policing

The Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, is incubating a startup that is developing an AI-based search engine to beef up policing. The Lucknow-based think tank Future Crime Research Foundation (FCRF) is being incubated under the premier institution’s Artificial Intelligence and Innovation-Driven Entrepreneurship (AIIDE), Center of Excellence in Noida. 

The search engine will use predictive policing, crime mapping and analysis to quicken the investigation process in policing, FCRF said. Data from stakeholders will contribute to the data search engine. 

Shashank Shekhar, the cofounder of FCRF, stated that the data collated from multiple sources will build one platform that will perform data analysis using regression models and data mining that can then offer insights into the unique crime patterns in every region. The data will be sourced from government sources like case files, charge sheets, FIRs, arrest memos, seizure memos, conviction memos, crime data and information from citizens’ complaints. 

The idea is to build a service where all this information and data from the Banking, Financial Services and Insurance (BFSI) sector will be available at a click for the law enforcement agencies.

The CEO of IIT- Kanpur, Dr Nikhil Agarwal, said that the institution was committed to promoting AI startups in UP. “Now we can understand crime better and solve it faster,” he added.