There is no one in the world, I guess, who don’t want to live in the area where there is a minimum possibility of crime to occur. But unfortunately it seems to be very difficult for the law enforcement, and security agencies to maintain such a high level of security and peace in the country. One can suggest placing a police officer in each and every area, but this solution is not going to solve the problem. On the other hand, this will definitely put more burden on the law enforcement agencies to invest more in human labor.
Powerful analytics to the existing data can be one of the powerful solution which can help the law enforcement agencies improve their knowledge of understanding the crime and can help them to utilize their resources to the fullest. Predictive policing will help in knowing the area where the crime is expected to occur and this will help the agencies to place their officers and prevent mischievous activities taking place. All that is needed to do is to take the predictive policing to the new level by analyzing the data which went unused before.
Today all computer systems are interconnected, having huge database that stores all the information and analysis that can help in predicting the spot where the crime is most likely to occur. Earlier these data were in different format and there was no communication between the systems that could help to make any strong prediction, but fortunately advancement in data analytics and machine learning are making these systems to interact and analyze the data and predict where the crime is going to take place and also when and under which circumstances. This will help law enforcement agencies to plan and deploy their resources better. Los Angeles Police Department is already using this system from last five and this had helped them to decrease 23% of serious crimes.
Microsoft is working towards developing a Domain Awareness System with the help of partnered cities, including New York, that can counter terrorism and help in preventing crime. Technology has become a force multiplier by allowing departments to better position police officers not only to respond to reported crimes, but where their presence will deter crime. Maintaining a police force is expensive, but the cost of technology continues to diminish. Data analytics are a cost effective way to stretch budgets when money for policing is tight. It is not that the predictive policing will replace traditional law enforcement, but will definitely bring improvement to it.
