Predictive Policing
Compare and contrast the application of information technology (IT) to optimize police departments’ performance to reduce crime versus random patrols of the streets.
A promising new technology with the purpose of analyzing and predict crime tends before it occur. COMPSTAT is allowing police agencies to adopt innovative technologies and problem-solving techniques while empowering traditional police organizational structures. Some participants questioned whether predictive policing was, in fact, a new model. Many police department argued that good crime analysts have been practicing predictive policing for more than 40 years. (Pearsall, B. 2010 May) SINCE THE EARLY 1990s, New York City has experienced the deepest and most prolonged crime drop in recorded history. In 1994, Police Commissioner William Bratton introduced a data-driven management model in the New York City Police Department called COMPSTAT. COMPSTAT, short for computer statistics, or comparative statistics, is a strategic management philosophy used by police to approach crime reduction.
COMPSTAT was created by the New York City Police Department to better deal with crime at the precinct level, based on what types and frequencies of crimes were actually happening on a regular basis. It is not a computer system or software package, but rather an organizational management tool where crime maps and statistics are used to actively target crime in the areas where it is needed the most. COMPSTAT emphasizes accountability at all levels within the organization and emphasizes the rapid identification of problems with creative solutions. COMPSTAT has been credited with decreasing crime and increasing quality of life in New York City over the last eighteen years (Bratton, 1998; Kelling & Bratton, 1998; Shane, 2007).
Determine how information systems have allowed police departments that implement tools such as COMPSTAT to respond to crime faster.
Input:
Knowing what’s going on information must be timely;
A promising new technology with the purpose of analyzing and predict crime tends before it occur. COMPSTAT is allowing police agencies to adopt innovative technologies and problem-solving techniques while empowering traditional police organizational structures. Some participants questioned whether predictive policing was, in fact, a new model. Many police department argued that good crime analysts have been practicing predictive policing for more than 40 years. (Pearsall, B. 2010 May) SINCE THE EARLY 1990s, New York City has experienced the deepest and most prolonged crime drop in recorded history. In 1994, Police Commissioner William Bratton introduced a data-driven management model in the New York City Police Department called COMPSTAT. COMPSTAT, short for computer statistics, or comparative statistics, is a strategic management philosophy used by police to approach crime reduction.
COMPSTAT was created by the New York City Police Department to better deal with crime at the precinct level, based on what types and frequencies of crimes were actually happening on a regular basis. It is not a computer system or software package, but rather an organizational management tool where crime maps and statistics are used to actively target crime in the areas where it is needed the most. COMPSTAT emphasizes accountability at all levels within the organization and emphasizes the rapid identification of problems with creative solutions. COMPSTAT has been credited with decreasing crime and increasing quality of life in New York City over the last eighteen years (Bratton, 1998; Kelling & Bratton, 1998; Shane, 2007).
Determine how information systems have allowed police departments that implement tools such as COMPSTAT to respond to crime faster.
Input:
Knowing what’s going on information must be timely;
References: Bratton, W. J., Wilson, J. Q., Kelling, G. L., Rivers, R. E., & Cove, P. (2004). This works: crime prevention and the future of the broken windows policing. The Center for Civic Innovation at the Manhattan Institute, Civic Bulletin No. 36. Retrieved from http://www.manhattan-institute.org/html/cb_36.htm Goode, E. (2011, August 15). Sending the Police before there’s a crime. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/us/16 police.html Pearsall, B. (2011, May). Predictive policing: The future of law enforcement? National Institute of Justice Journal, 266. Retrieved from Retrieved form http://www.nij.gov/nij/jounals/266/predictive.html Predictive Policing Symposium. ((2010)). Retrieved from Retrieved from http://www.nij.gov/nij/topics/law-enforcement/strategies/predictive-policing/symposium/welcome.html Shurkin, J. N. ((2011, September 13)). Santa Cruz cops experiment with ’predictive policing’. Retrieved from Retrieved from http://idealab.talkingpointsmeno.com/2011/09/santa-cruz-cops-experiment-with-predictive-policing.php Weisburd, D, Mastrtfski, S., McNally, A.M., Greenspan, R., and Willis, J. . (July 2003). Rforming to preserve: Comstat and strategic promblem solving American policing. Criminology & Public Policy, 3(421-455). Retrieved from Retreived from http;//search.proquest.com.libdatab.strayer.edu/docview/200149166 Willis, J. J., Mastrofski, S. D., & Weisburd, D. (2003). Compstat in practice: An in-depth analysis of three cities. Police Foundation. Retrieved from http://www.police foundation.org/pdf/compstatinpractice.pdf