In today’s world of extensive crime, fighting crime is a major concern. With data analytics, we could see crime epidemics reduce to a large scale. It is proving to be a valuable tool in the arsenal of law enforcement officials in every jurisdiction.

What Data Can Be Used?

By analysing data for major crimes such as shootings, murders and robberies, patterns and trends in the behavior of these crimes can be noted down which would in turn help in reducing these crimes. These crimes can be noted down for weeks or even anniversaries of them a year to figure out the patterns in an area.

Data like prisoners on parole and conditions attached to it can also lead to a useful interpretation using analytics. It makes tasks easier for police staff to report crime and add it into the system and for information to be provided in real-time to front line staff to help them focus more effectively on prevention of crime.

Advanced analytic capabilities can be integrated into CCTV systems to improve response times to public safety incidents. Analytics has the potential to enable police to achieve a truly preventative approach, as it can help to get new understandings from data and identify and recognize suspicious behavior and activities.

Case in point, SAS analytics can help to deliver data analytics required to enable forces to stay focused on the mission and make more informed decisions fed by complete and accurate data.

Examples Of Analytics Being Leveraged For Crime Prevention

The Indian Police force has started taking an increasing interest in crime analytics using big data, which involves storing and analyzing huge volume and variety of data in real time, to predict and inference patterns and trends especially relating to human interactions and behavior. To know which areas are most prone to crimes, the police force also uses predictive analytics to develop models using machine learning to know which areas are most prone to crime. It also helps them to keep a track on which criminals or individuals to keep a track on. Delhi police have partnered with ISRO to develop an analytical system called Crime Mapping, Analytics and Predictive System (CMAPS), which helps the Delhi police to ensure internal security, controlling crime, and maintaining law and order through analysis of data and patterns. Jharkhand police force is trying to implement an analytical system with the help of IIM Ranchi, to help evaluate criminal records, date and time of crime occurrences, and location to predict crime-prone zones.

The system is built on machine learning algorithms and behavioral science and intends to solve crimes all over the country. The Bangalore police with the help of IBM is now training officers on the better usage of data analytics software. The Indian police force has started taking an increasing interest in crime analytics using big data, which involves storing and analyzing huge volume and variety of data in real time.

Reading Police Department leaders of the US had recently unveiled a crime-reduction strategy called CompStat that embraces analytics with the vigor that many sports teams today use to get a step ahead of the competition. CompStat has been credited with significant reductions in serious crime in New York City and has been adopted by numerous police departments today.

The South American police is tackling border protection issues with the help of analytics to better monitor federal highways and manage traffic.

Africa is beginning to build crime prevention into their strategic approaches, through better crowd management and police dedicated to reducing road traffic accidents.

Looking Forward

Analytics, with its enormous use in various functioning in the society, has proven to be useful in fighting crimes. Police, along with data, can solve and even prevent these crimes by the use of accurate and timely data of crimes. Analytics can help police with their job and even come up with better results.