On October 17–23, 2013, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) held their 120th Annual Conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Four panels at the conference included segments about Smart Policing, featuring presentations by CNA Senior Project Advisor James K. “CHIPS” Stewart and members of SPI project teams from Cambridge/Everett/Somerville, Massachusetts; Evans County, Georgia; Indio, California; Michigan State Police; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Shawnee, Kansas; and York, Maine.
Mr. Stewart, alongside former SPI Senior Project Advisor Stephen Rickman and Police Foundation President James Bueermann, presented in a panel titled “Doing More with Less: Using Data to Reduce Costs and Crime.” During this panel, the speakers focused on the importance of distinguishing between “information” (i.e., the raw data police agencies have access to) and “knowledge” (the results of analyzing and inspecting that raw data). Mr. Stewart discussed the data-driven strategies of the Boston, Massachusetts; Los Angeles, California; and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania SPI projects.
In another session titled “Smart Policing: Using Innovative Technology and Analytics for Crime Reduction ”, representatives from the Cambridge/Everett/Somerville, Massachusetts; Evans County, Georgia; and Indio, California SPI sites described their project. The Philadelphia, Pennsylvania SPI was the focus of a session titled “The Philadelphia Smart Policing Initiative: Lessons for Operational Leaders,” presented by research partners Jerry Ratcliffe and Elizabeth Groff. In a session titled “Smart Policing: Using Data-Driven Approaches to Crime and Safety (DDACTS) in Smaller Cities and Towns,” representatives from the Michigan State Police; Shawnee, Kansas; and York, Maine SPI projects discussed their work. Following this, Inspector Matt Bolger from Michigan State Police described the use of targeted enforcement strategies in Flint, Michigan as part of their SPI project. He explained their focus on micro-places within crime hot spots, using troopers from the State Police to target violent and drug-related crime. Finally, Dr. Craig Uchida, research partner for the York, Maine SPI project, described their implementation of DDACTS, which focuses on implementing targeted, high-profile patrols in identified hot spots of traffic violations and accidents. He stressed the importance of moving from intuitive identification of areas for targeted patrol to using data-driven methodologies to determine the best allocation of resources.
