14 DAY TRIAL // A new computer model developed in California allows the police and other law enforcement agencies to act before crimes happens in a particular area. The tool has been successfully used to reduce crime rates in Indio by as much as 8 percent in the first three quarters of 2013.
The instrument is the result of a collaboration between University of California-Riverside (UCR) and the Indio Police Department. UCR professor of sociology Robert Nash Parker, who is also a senior researcher at the Presley Center for Crime and Justice Studies, led the research team.
Using the new computer model, the Indio police deployed officers in the field according to predictions. In addition, the department also took preemptive steps to address potential problems, by developing interventions targeted at problematic areas, EurekAlert reports.
“This is the wave of the future. It is my hope this relationship with Dr. Parker will continue throughout my tenure with this department, not only on this project, but with others as well,” said Richard P. Twiss, the chief of the Indio Police Department.