Police to rely on data-driven stats to prevent crime
MIAMI - Data and stats have helped experts predict outcomes in baseball, and other activities, and now it's becoming more heavily applied in policing. That was part of the discussion at the Miami Crimefighters Conference.
"Crime back in 1994 when I came aboard it was all over the place," Miami Police Chief Manny Morales said.
But he notes, advances in policing have been incredible, such at the Real Time Crime Center, which can feed in live scene video, and even monitor a crime in progress.
"Now you have to be a lot more specific, you have to be a lot more quality over quantity," Morales explained.
The center is also able to collect quite a bit of data, such as license plate info, but what to do with all that data and make it useful?
"We're mindful of the impact the arrests has on the community and we realize jail is not for everybody," Chief Morales added.
Leaders, academics, and analysts from over 30 jurisdictions across the country came to highlight new strategies. Sean Malinowski with Policing Lab tells us, data can be a crystal ball into the future.
"We see the use of data in all aspects of life right now and the police department has a lot of information, in terms of crime data and where crime is occurring, and there's an opportunity to leverage that data," Malinowski said.
The goal is to develop crime trends, thus helping with predictive policing, on the ground which can mean having officers in hotspots ready to prevent crime.
"We are collecting data, so we keep the videos for 30 days, and then we'll dispose of it, so if we don't have the need to keep the information," Chief Morales explained.
Law enforcement leaders say access is restricted to only individuals with a background clearance for analysis purposes.
"When people think about cities, there are such variations in cities that it could be one block or a couple of blocks and there could be a congregation of people and certain kinds of situations or businesses that at a certain area in a city," Alex Piquero, Bureau of Justice Statistics Director said.
This new approach is made possible through a partnership for Policing Innovation and Reform. It's also sponsored by billionaire Ken Griffin who runs Citadel, a hedge fund company that recently moved its headquarters to Miami from Chicago; however, Chicago is where the Policing Lab started. It's resulted in a noticeable reduction in violent crime.
"It's not having more data, it's having more accurate and laser-focused data, to help us keep our communities safe," Chief Morales added.
Six analysts from Policing Lab currently work with the Miami Police Dept., and six more are expected to join the county.
A clearer picture should be available of what has changed after the program has been implemented for a year.