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Chicago Police Force Wins CIO Magazine Award
Roland Piquepaille writes "The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the sole winner of the 2004 Grand CIO Enterprise Value Award for its data warehouse and application suite. In Taking IT to the Street, the magazine writes that Chicago police officers have an immediate access to more than to 200 GB of data and nearly 8.5 million records of arrests and other incidents. It took $45 million and 3 years to the CPD to build this database with the help of Oracle, but the return on investment is huge, with labor savings of $88 million from 2001 through 2003. And while the national crime rate rose 2 percent from 2000 to 2001, Chicago rates have dropped 16 percent in the last three years. So all this information can and does prevent crime and save lives, but in Police Power Coming Up Behind You, the author reports he is somewhat worried that all these tools could fall into wrong hands. This overview contains selected excerpts and comments about this long article."
the author reports he is somewhat worried that all these tools could fall into wrong hands
Given how paranoid the US, its administration and its various police forces are these days, I think the problem is that the database is already in hands that can potentially go disturbingly wrong.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
so what do you propose, the poor cop sitting in his car waiting for the system to respond, while his colleague is trying to keep his eyes on 3 people at the same time, all of whom *might* draw a weapon, gun him down and take off in their car at any given time? One would think that in a job where a split second can mean the difference between a dead cop and a living cop only the best gear is good enough...and in the long run those dead cops cost a lot more than those notebooks did.
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
Whenever the Police get new tools or new powers some nut always comes along and worries about what would happen if the tools fell into the wrong hands. Without much thought, the argument can be liberally applied to computer systems, guns, patrol cars, uniforms and whatever else the police might have access to. They always dismiss a number of crucial facts. a) The Police are regulated and monitored, their tools and training are studied, monitored and controlled. b) The Police are not 16 year old kids who might accidentally leave their new gadget on the bus. Let the Police get on with their job, 99.99999% of the time their doing great things, taking substantial risk on our behalf. The more we can do to make that job easier and reduce that risk the better.
This is just your opinion. I'm sure Microsoft feels they could have done it better and cheaper. I support open source as much as the next guy but a project requires much more than gifted programmers to succeed.
crime, which is mostly caused by citizens failing to make a decent living, sick of the system and just mad at everything.
So people only take to crime when their job search on monster.com draws a blank?
chicago tribune
Touchscreen is the only way to go. These are police officers, they don't have time to lean how to use whatever system you want to hack together. They want a picture menu on the screen that they can touch to get at what ever information they need.
Developers should never be conerned with what makes things easier for themselves, but what makes things easier for thier users.
Don't waste time... procrastinate now!
And while the national crime rate rose 2 percent from 2000 to 2001, Chicago rates have dropped 16 percent in the last three years. So all this information can and does prevent crime and save lives
Repeat after me:
Correlation is not causation.
Correlation is not causation.
Correlation is not causation.
Mmmm.. Donuts
You're overestimating the quality of the state of open-source software vs the more robust products available in the current software market. Remember, they implemented 3 years ago, which means they started about 5 years ago... and which open-source database had full transaction support at that time? Yeah, I thought so.
And the way I look at it, this was an excellent investment in reducing the amount of paperwork and buraurocracy inherant in crime fighting. Poverty prevention? I think that's called education and removing the bad elements from society (and keeping them out, not reducing their sentances and letting them back out to commit more crimes).
Given how paranoid the US, its administration and its various police forces are these days
The paranoia is zero. The terrorists are actually out to destroy us (they state so repeatedly), and the administration and police are doing nothing more than engaging in a reasonable response to an existing threat.
It would only be paranoia if there were no terrorists. Perhaps you think tha the 9-11 incident was a special effects collaboration of Fox News, Steven Speilberg, and the "Jewish owned media"
This post assumes that the 16 percent drop in crime in Chicago is a result of the new system. Why? Where is the evidence for that? I slept late yesterday and it rained. I got up early today and it didn't rain. So does that mean that rain is caused by me sleeping late? Absurd. Correlation does not necessarily equal casusation.
I don't know if real crime in Chicago was down or not. Such "official statistics" are very easily manipulated, either by design as the data are being gathered or afterwards as they're being interpreted. Unless there is MUCH better evidence of a link between the statistical drop in crime and this new computer system, the poster's conclusion is completely unwarranted. It's POSSIBLE that the system does indeed reduce crime, but the assumption isn't supported at this point.
Really? What city with similar demographics to Chicago that didn't implement this technology served as the control for this comparison? Sounds like "Eating ice cream causes drowning". It just happens more people eat ice cream during summer, which also happens to be when most people swim. Be very careful of drawing correlations like this!
Another problem with this is a fundemental issue of economics... for sure spending money on this system may reduce crime, but is there a more effective use of this money? For example, after school programs, education, free drug rehab, etc. Giving more money to law enforcement treats the symptoms not the caues!
"And while the national crime rate rose 2 percent from 2000 to 2001, Chicago rates have dropped 16 percent in the last three years. So all this information can and does prevent crime and save lives"
Beyond the obvious point that multiple factors affect a crime rate (from stricter policy to varying levels of people leaving the city) there is the fact that "all this information can" prevent crime and save lives but it neccessarily does not. Information CAN help but used inappropriately or not used at all could lead to nothing more than an incomplete system being updated for managerial reasons and being shunned by the users of the system. It's just like any other piece of software; it could be extremely beneficial but isn't unless used properly.
---- The geek shall inherit the Earth.
"...the author reports he is somewhat worried that all these tools could fall into wrong hands."
Is he?
I'm worried that all this information has fallen into the right hands. 'The law abiding people have nothing to fear' they always say. But it takes only a little twist, like Prohibition, to make a _lot_ of people nuovo-criminals; and all their information is then fair game.
I'm all for law enforcement and the protection of the truly innocent, but the time is coming when there will be only two kinds of people: Those being watched and the watchers. And there are supremely efficient and brutal criminals on both sides of that divide.
The way I look at it, they spent $45 mil fighting crime, which is mostly caused by citizens failing to make a decent living, sick of the system and just mad at everything. If they took most of that money and invested it into poverty prevension, you would see likely even better results.
Would you like a band-aid for that bleeding heart? It's an economic reality that some people will always be poor. The trick is in doing whatever you have to so that you're not one of them. Get a job. Work hard. And don't steal from people. It's not easy, but it isn't all that hard either.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
Boy are you ever wrong.
I did a study for police force 2 years ago about 80 outside of Chicago. These men and women are smart, they been computerized for years.
They where looking for next thing...
Centralizing multiple cities and county into one system for 911, police and fire.
Use of handhelds with scanners and cameras to handle recording, labeling, and TRACKing of property... They have to keep it on file during the entire time the suspect/case runs... Can you say 50 years for some one in for life?
They carry at least two computers in even car... one connected to the dash and radio systems. The other a laptop to write-up reports and download when they get back to the office.
Pictures are great for those that change jobs every 3 weeks... But to become a cop, it takes years of commitement.
One of the guys I work with now, full time programmer is also a part time police officer. He volunteers his time.
Well, if we're going to put together massive government databases on citizens, this is the way to do it. If you're convicted of a crime, you give up certain rights. After reading so much about CAPPS and other super-spying databases that are geared towards law-abiding citizens, I'm glad someone saw the utility in applying it to people who actually commit crimes.
As for the "correlation does not equal causality" mantra being waved like a flag: no shit! I don't think the article even makes that jump, it just points out the correlation. It's left to the reader to draw his or her own inference. It's a data point, it's useful, and it should be reported. The fact that others (not so smart as yourselves) will seek to twist this one data point to their own benefit is a separate issue. I'm sure it will happen (or had happened). Doesn't mean a reporter should ignore it.
THE GUY IN THE SUV in front of us, stuck in Chicago traffic with about a million other cars, lives in Virginia, has not been arrested in the past several years, has one outstanding ticket for speeding (in Virginia), and is six months delinquent in renewing his registration.
I am highly skeptical of this statement. Speeding tickets are misdemeanors. Most states don't even put them into their own state databases because police agencies will not extradite for a traffic ticket. I'm not familiar with Virginia, but many state police agencies will put a warrant on the drivers license if they have an unpaid ticket, perhaps that is how the information was available. All of the other information is available via MVD and Computerized Criminal History checks (expired registration and arrest info). The way the article introduction was written, it sounds like big brother is on the prowl. I would venture to guess the vast majority of this information was available to the officers before, but they had to go to a station computer to access it. Now they can just pull it up from the car.
I believe it was Gerhard Ritter, the great German historian, who gave three reasons why he was able to remain a vocal anti-Nazi in Hitler's police state.
1. Before the Nazis took power, he already had an international reputation. If the Gestapo were to arrest him, the world press outcry would do the Germany of the 1930s (very concerned about exports) more harm than good. Despite movie stereotyping, the Nazis were neither stupid nor insane.
2. All his colleagues in the history department at his university shared his sentiments. That meant he could get support and encouragement from them without fear of an anonymous denouncement.
3. Despite what some thought, the Gestapo, forced to used card files and paper folders, wasn't that well organized. One department would issue an order that "under no circumstances was Dr. Ritter to be allowed to leave Germany to speak at a conference," while another department would issue him a permit to speak at a conference in Switzerland, where he would make anti-Nazi remarks.
It's in this third area that the danger lies, not so much in the U.S. where the traditions of freedom and democracy run deep, but in the still-existing police states and half democracies of the world from Iran and Syria to Russia. This all too effective databases could be used to squelch the process of dissent and demonstration that can lead to freedom.
Those wanting a parallel should read IBM and the Holocaust, paying particular attention to how the Nazi were able to use punch card census data correlating ethnic/religious data to name and address to round up Dutch Jews and send them to death camps.
As Reagan and Schultz would point out to the Soviet leaders, technology develops best in a free society. But we shouldn't forget that, once developed, technology is easily transferred to less free societies.
Finally, we should not forget that in history good is always in a desperate race with evil. There are technologies loose in the world (and not just databases) that are dangerous in the hands of repressive governments. Democratizing the Middle East is in the interest of us all, as well as the peoples of the region. It's not a project we can put off until it becomes convenient and risk free.
--Mike Perry
Editor: Dachau Liberated
Editor: Eugenics and Other Evils
Author: Untangling Tolkien
http://www.InklingBooks.com/
Nice to see a splash of sanity in the midst of the 'police hate' around here.
I have plenty of hate for the police as well, but you can't blame them when someone gets caught stealing or selling crack.
LK
"Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
It is more safe to assume that those in positions of power who authorized the spending of 40+ million of Tax Dollars wish to look like it was well spent.
I am all for open source and I would love to see mysql used for this but sometimes products like Oracle would work better. It can be scaled alot easier and better, especially when you are talking about such a huge database. On top of that its also alot easier to have somebody to point a finger at when it breaks, sure mysql you can talk with some developer or admin but thats it. I am all for open source but sometimes the government just wants to spend more of our hard earned money. If linux can get into the desktop enviroment and work its way into government offices they would probably be more receptive to open source. All sorts of other governments, we are just a little slow...that word free in the same word as government spending such a wierd thing afterall! It would be interesting to see how the database reduced crime unless they did something like somebody posted above by creating trend maps.
I'd agree with your sentiments, to at least some extent, but I'm already turned off by your tone. Why would someone be a "nut" simply because they ask some tough questions about the possibilities we don't want to consider?
A very real problem with computerizing data into databases has *always* been keeping it secure. The nice thing about traditional methods of filing data (file cabinets full of folders and so on) is it has a certain level of inherent security. (EG. If I waltz in to the police station and try to sift through private file folders, there's a really GOOD chance someone will see me and stop me before I get very far.) When you "virtualize" this information into a computer, people can't immediately see you accessing the data remotely. For that matter, employees using other people's passwords could be accessing files they weren't supposed to access, and it's likely other workers would walk right by them, not realizing anything was "out of place".
Can this technology be implemented so security isn't compromised? Sure.... but it takes some awareness and effort. In a world where most people still think their password should be the name of their pet dog or cat, and it's a "nuisance they'd rather avoid" to force changing a password once every 6 months - there's a very real need to keep questioning the security procedures used!
Since the only people that end up in Guantanamo are those caught red-handed fighting in terrorist armies
It doesn't matter if they were caught red handed, they can't now be given a fair trial. Anyway, you should read up on the 5 British detainees who were released recently -- they weren't caught doing anything. It's a fundamental legal principle that you cannot imprison people indefinitely until they admit to doing something naughty; you have to have evidence and present it in a public trial. Otherwise how do we know that any of these people have done anything wrong, if they are not given fair and public trials?
And while the national crime rate rose 2 percent from 2000 to 2001, Chicago rates have dropped 16 percent in the last three years. So all this information can and does prevent crime and save lives
The two statistics aren't even correlated. The rate rose 2 percent from 2000 to 2001. The rates dropped 16 percent in the last three years which are the years 2001-2004. The two stats don't even match up in the period they are measuring.
Lack of correlation certainly does not imply causation.
RANT >
Case law has shown us many times that the Police have NO responsibility to protect YOU. In fact, if a Policeman makes a mistake, and KILLS YOU, often he will face no censure. [ Pick a hot-button-Cops-Kill-Innocent case to support argument here ]
Since that's the case, the Police have no DUTY to protect you, and you can't compell them to in any way, this "Contract" you speak of does not pass the FIRST test of contractual validity, namely, an exchange of benefits and responsibilities between the parties, which can be enforced.
You may believe you have exchanged the right to exact punishment for the protection of the State, but the policeman doesn't think that way. You're background noise.
Then you suggest that if I don't subscribe to your (Obviously Flawed) "Social Contract" theory I should consider moving.
Well, buddy, I was BORN HERE in New York. You got a problem with NEW YORK's Constitiution? IT doesn't seem to mention any of this crap you're talking about. In fact it exhorts us to EXPEL CIVIL TYRRANY
[Art. XXXVIII. And whereas we are required, by the benevolent principles of rational liberty, not only to expel civil tyranny, but also to guard against that spiritual oppression and intolerance wherewith the bigotry and ambition of weak and wicked priests and princes have scourged mankind,...]
We Citizens limit what our governments may do, because we know that they are filled with people JUST LIKE US, and as such, should not be trusted.
Oh yeah, and WTF does your close mean?
"Have fun, and please let the constitution hit you on the way out!"
I think that those who believe the "America: Love it or Leave it!" thing, aren't ready to admit to themselves that it's more like "America: Fucked by BOTH Political Parties AND Every Corporation with Enough Scratch To Attend The Rally"
Let me close this rant by saying: "If your Party is MORE IMPORTANT than YOUR NATION, You MIGHT be involved in a Conspiracy to Commit Treason..."
/ rant >
Technology -- No Place For Wimps! Grateful Dead and Jerry Garcia Chatroom -- http://www.wemissjerry.org
Perhaps you should read some of his work instead of citing the usual anti-chomsky rhetoric. You say he 'supports' these groups... I haven't hit a point so far where i've seen him do anything near to what you say.
He simply takes what to me looks like an objective view and points out that America is not as innocent in the world view as we like to think.
-Tomaj