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A Smarter Approach to Public Safety

In our first two chapters, we outlined the benefits of big data and discussed how analytics can help counter waste, fraud and abuse. In this chapter, we look at how public safety organizations can benefit from a robust analytics strategy. Specifically we explore:

  • Case studies from Miami-Dade County, New York City and Lancaster, California police departments.
  • Expert insights from IBM public safety subject matter experts.
  • Seven benefits of using analytics to fight crime.

With emerging analytic solutions and access to more information than ever before, public safety organizations are now able to use data as a means to transform the way they identify, respond and mitigate criminal activity.

“Agencies simply cannot afford to put more officers on the street. They need to make improved decisions and allocate resources more effectively. Leveraging crime analytics is part of the solution in a time of tight budgets and resources,” said Mike Reade, IBM Integrated Smarter Solutions Team in the IBM and GovLoop report, Building Safer Communities in the Digital Age. Existing use cases for crime analytics include:

  1. Curbing recidivism trends by understanding and focusing on serious and prolific offenders.
  2. Anticipating and preventing crime before it happens.
  3. Improving situational awareness for officers through social media analytics, or video analytics.
  4. Gaining real-time insights through GIS technology and geo-tagged crime data to deliver knowledge on surrounding locations and identify potential escape routes.
  5. Optimizing resource deployment and measure outcomes of decisions and crime-fighting initiatives.

The IBM Analytics Solution Center (ASC) is part of a network of global analytics centers that provides clients with the analytics expertise to help them solve their toughest business problems. Check out their Analytics to Outcomes group on GovLoop.