Mapping and Predicting Crimes in Small Cities Using Web Scraping and Machine Learning

Pedro Arthur P. S. Ortiz, Leandro O. Freitas

2025

Abstract

This paper presents an approach to municipal crime analysis and prediction through the integration of web scraping techniques and artificial intelligence. Focusing on Alvorada, Brazil, we address the challenge of limited crime data availability in small cities by developing an automated system that extracts and processes crime-related information from local news sources. Our methodology employs the Anthropic Claude AI API for structured data extraction and implements a machine learning model (Random Forest) for crime prediction. The research demonstrates the feasibility of creating crime prediction systems for small cities while identifying temporal and spatial patterns in criminal activity. Additionally, we provide a framework for future improvements through potential law enforcement partnerships and dataset expansion. This study contributes to the growing field of smart city development by offering a replicable methodology for municipalities lacking standardized crime data collection systems.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Ortiz P. and Freitas L. (2025). Mapping and Predicting Crimes in Small Cities Using Web Scraping and Machine Learning. In Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 1: ICEIS; ISBN 978-989-758-749-8, SciTePress, pages 888-894. DOI: 10.5220/0013421400003929

in Bibtex Style

@conference{iceis25,
author={Pedro Ortiz and Leandro Freitas},
title={Mapping and Predicting Crimes in Small Cities Using Web Scraping and Machine Learning},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 1: ICEIS},
year={2025},
pages={888-894},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013421400003929},
isbn={978-989-758-749-8},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 27th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems - Volume 1: ICEIS
TI - Mapping and Predicting Crimes in Small Cities Using Web Scraping and Machine Learning
SN - 978-989-758-749-8
AU - Ortiz P.
AU - Freitas L.
PY - 2025
SP - 888
EP - 894
DO - 10.5220/0013421400003929
PB - SciTePress