PredPol, initially the brainchild of a group of PhD mathematicians, anthropologist and criminologist, is able to target "crime hot spots". These are determined on the 'highest probability', aimed at increasing the odds of stopping crime, based on current and historical data of crime type, time and location that are pushed through a series of algorithms. Armed with the resulting GoogleMap, the shift's officers are guided on possible car theft, burglary and burglary from cars.
"“This is the next era of policing… very soon we will be using a predictive policing model where, by studying real-time crime patterns, we can anticipate where a crime is likely to occur.”
- William Bratton, Former Commissioner of NYPD and Chief of LAPD"
In the Age article, Captain Sean Malinowski stated that use of PredPol alone for six months led to a 12% decrease in crime overall in the LAPD division of Foothill and a 25% drop in car theft. Compared to the use of other intelligence in a different six month period, crime rates rose.
See: http://www.theage.com.au/world/to-predict-and-to-serve-the-future-of-law-enforcement-20130330-2h0rb.html
Compare:
1. The Future Attribute Screening Technology (FAST) program by the Department of Homeland Security http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48FuWeF4m7U.
2. Movie: "Minority Report" http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0181689/
