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Police Data-Mining Done Right

Posted by Zonk on from the way-its-supposed-to-be-used dept.

enharmonix writes "Courtesy of Bruce Schneier, it's nice to hear something good about data mining for a change: predicting and stopping crime. For example, police in Redmond, VA, 'started overlaying crime reports with other data, such as weather, traffic, sports events and paydays for large employers. The data was analyzed three times a day and something interesting emerged: Robberies spiked on paydays near cheque cashing storefronts in specific neighbourhoods. Other clusters also became apparent, and pretty soon police were deploying resources in advance and predicting where crime was most likely to occur.'"

8 of 321 comments (clear)

  1. That's some fine police work, Lou. by Treskin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Do they really need to spend thousands of dollars analyzing data to determine there's more crime around check-cashing stores on paydays?

    1. Re:That's some fine police work, Lou. by GregPK · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think thats just one thing that showed up on the radar. Something that someone may intuitively know may not be listened to by others without data to back it up. Things like they don't need to enforce traffic as much during foggy days because traffic is going slower already.

    2. Re:That's some fine police work, Lou. by heinousjay · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That was one example, probably selected because it doesn't give much away.

      Still, I have to congratulate you. This just wouldn't be Slashdot if we didn't get somebody denigrating the accomplishment. It's very gratifying to know that I post to the same board as so many people who can do everything with merely a stray thought, if they ever actually felt like getting around to it.

      --
      Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
    3. Re:That's some fine police work, Lou. by jahudabudy · · Score: 5, Insightful

      f I can figure out that payday (or the day after) is not the greatest day to be in the bank due to the sudden surge of activity,

      Whose payday? We can't post cops at all of the check cashing storefronts (not banks) all the time, so which stores see the most crime after which companies' paydays?

      If you can answer these questions with nothing but hunches and intuition, I'd suggest the stock market, not law enforcement.

      --
      ...sometimes, in order to hurt someone very badly, you have to tell that person terrible lies. - PA
  2. Wrong city listed in summary by chiph · · Score: 5, Informative

    The city that won the business intelligence award for data mining is Richmond VA, not 'Redmond'.

    Chip H.

  3. Re:scanning the comments here on slashdot by analogueblue · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Having had my apartment robbed, I can tell you that I did call the police. They sent a guy out over 24 hours later, who basically said "yeah, lots of people have been getting robbed around here lately", (note: i lived in a pretty nice area), "you probably won't get anything back. I hope you're insured." and left. No finger printing, no looking at the busted door, no follow up.

    Add that to MANY instances of being harassed by cops for my car, my youth, being out late, etc... and it's hard not to have a negative view. I'm sure there are some good cops out there. I don't doubt it. But when I'm robbed they can't send a cop out that day, presumably because they're all too busy pulling over young guys in expensive cars and searching them without probably cause (I'm in tech, I'm not a drug dealer), or issuing speeding tickets for 25 in a 20 to meet their quotas.

    Anecdotes don't make a rule, it's true, but they do color a persons opinions. I've interacted with law enforcement many times (speeding tickets, random pull overs, having my apt. robbed, car accident, firearms testing for concealed carry, etc...), probably about 25 interactions. Of those, one was reasonably positive (helped after my car died on the side of the road), a few were neutral (neither helpful not malicious or abusive), and the rest (about 20) were negative (screaming and threats, searches without cause, rough handling, rudeness, apathy, etc...).

  4. Sweet! by Descalzo · · Score: 5, Funny

    I get paid on the 6th and 21st.

    Which check-cashing place do you go to?

    --
    I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
  5. Re:The Last Days of the Permanent Floating Riot Cl by Original+Replica · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Strategic and tactical placement of resources to maximize effect without resorting to profiling or harassing citizens is a good thing.

    What about cops walking a beat? That's right, walking down the same streets over and over everyday. Walking a beat means getting to know the locals and the particulars of a neighborhood in a way that doesn't happen in a squad car. Gangs don't hang out on a corner if once an hour a cops walks by a says hello, but the neighborhood kids still can hangout and could even end up viewing that cop as part of their neighborhood. From a squad car, no relationship is established and any stationary pack of teens can look like a gang to a biased eye. You don't have to profile when you actually know the people you see, but if you are just cruising along looking at a sea of nameless faces, then ethnicity and clothing style are about all you have to go on. Profiling is almost inevitable without establishing officers with good personal knowledge/relationship with the locals.

    --
    We are all just people.