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New Crime-Predicting Algorithm Borrows From Apollo Space Mission Tech (digitaltrends.com)
Researchers from Georgia Tech and the UK's University of Surrey have developed a new predictive policing algorithm that aims to better manage police resources and gain an upper hand in the war on crime. It reportedly uses technology that's been previously used in weather forecasting and the Apollo space missions. Digital Trends reports: The new algorithm built on previous work carried out by researchers from the University of California and police forces in both the U.S. and U.K. Their 2015 research showed how a predictive policing algorithm could accurately predict between 1.4 and 2.2 times more urban crime than specialist crime analysts. By making recommendations about where to patrol, the algorithm led to a 7.4 percent reduction in crime. However, while effective, this approach has also been criticized due to concerns about possible racial profiling and the underreporting of crime. The new algorithm has so far been demonstrated on a data set of more than 1,000 violent gang crimes in Los Angeles carried out between 1999 and 2002. Early conclusions suggest that the upgraded predictive tool could prove superior for coping with the constantly fluctuating world of real-time crime prediction. The researchers published their paper in the journal Computational Statistics & Data Analysis.
> there's nothing to be done UNTIL the crime is COMMITTED.
If they could predict which block was likely to have a spike in crime 3 or 4 days in advance, that would be enough time to finish their donuts an drive a patrol car over there, potentially preventing the crime. If the presence of the patrol car didn't determine the criminal, the cops could actually catch a bad guy in the act for once, rather than taking a report the next day. I know, that's funny. They'll still just be taking reports after the fact.