VAR Northgate Information Solutions has signed contracts with 37 police forces to continue delivering its geographical information systems (GIS) offering until 2010.

Northgate’s offering is used to fight against crime by allowing police forces to conduct crime mapping to identify felony hot-spots and thunderlying causes of crime, along with related trends and patterns.

This type of crime analysis allows targeted and strategic policing, providing frontline police officers with information and intelligence.

Andrew Avery, GIS product manager at Northgate, said: “Our GIS offering will be used in police control rooms where live data will be coming in from officers on the street. This data can then be analysed to detect patterns in crime and disorder. Police forces can then start to dig deeper and draw up a profile of what is happening in that neighborhood.”

>> Further reading:Northgate celebrates Holland breakthrough