Week 5: Public safety

technology in the public sector

week 5: public safety and criminal justice IT

Northwestern University MPPA 490

Summer 2012 - Greg Wass

1

Criminal justice functions

• Police

• Judicial

• Corrections

Major technology issues

1. Need more data sharing across jurisdictions and functions – “The system of ‘need to

know’ should be replaced by a system of ‘need to share.’” The 9/11 Commission Report

2. How to use modern data science for predictive policing

3. Extending community policing via mobile apps

Policy questions

• How do we prevent crimes before they happen?

• Where should we spend/invest public funds?

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1. Need more data sharing across jurisdictions and functions

3

The big picture

1. Case flow and decision points from crime (police) to trial (judicial) to incarceration (corrections) to reentry (social services)

2. Interaction among multiple agencies and levels of government

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5

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Data sharing standards: JXDM and NIEM

• “The Global Justice Extensible Markup Language (XML) Data Model (Global JXDM) and Global Justice XML Data Dictionary (Global JXDD) are the result of an effort by the justice and public safety communities to produce a set of common, well-defined data elements to be used for data transmissions.”

• “Perhaps the most widely recognized and important standard of the day is the National Information Exchange Model (NIEM). ...NIEM is seen by many in the justice information-sharing community as the key standard and foundation for exchanging information across multiple domains and disciplines.”

Source: “Global Justice XML Data Model,” U.S. Department of Justice; Government Technology’s Digital Communities 7

2. How to use modern data science for predictive policing

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Predictive policing…

…is a multi-disciplinary, law enforcement-based strategy that brings together

• advanced technologies

• criminological theory

• predictive analysis

• tactical operations

…that ultimately lead to results and outcomes of • crime reduction (and crime prevention)

• management efficiency

• safer communities

Source: Dr. Craig Ushida, National Governors Association Cybercrime and Forensic Sciences Executive Policy Forum, June 2011 9

Predictive policing (cont’d)

• Universities and technology companies

– Developing computer programs based on private sector models of forecasting consumer behavior

• Police agencies

– Use computer analysis of information (crimes, environment, intelligence)

– Predict and prevent crime

• The idea

– Improve situational awareness (tactically /strategically) to create strategies to police more efficiently and effectively

Source: Rand Corporation, National Institute of Justice, and National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, 2012 10

How does it work in real life?

With situational awareness and anticipation of human behavior, police can identify and develop strategies to prevent criminal activity

– By repeat offenders

– On repeat victims

– By locations or types of targets

Police use their limited resources – To work proactively

– Using effective strategies to prevent the activity

BUT - The effectiveness of the strategies must be measurable – Reduced crime

– Higher arrest rates for serious/stranger offenses

– Broader social and justice outcomes and impacts

Source: Susan C. Smith, National Governors Association Cybercrime and Forensic Sciences Executive Policy Forum, June 2011 11

Predictive Policing: A Model

Source: Rand Corporation, National Institute of Justice, and National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, 2012 12

What questions can predictive policing answer?

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A “blended theory” of crime

• Criminals and victims follow common life patterns; where those patterns overlap can lead to crimes

– Geographic and temporal features influence the where and when of those patterns

• Criminals make rational decisions using factors such as area & target suitability, risk of getting caught, etc.

• Can ID many of these patterns and factors; can steer criminals’ decisions through interventions

• Best fits ―”stranger offenses” like robberies, burglaries, and thefts – less so vice and relationship violence

14

Some prediction methods

15 Source: Rand Corporation, National Institute of Justice, and National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, 2012

Hot spot analysis / crime mapping


Regression analysis


Possible pitfalls


Goal is to be as accurate as possible in predicting purse snatchings…e.g., do 99%+ of future purse snatchings (green triangles), land in hot spots (red and yellow areas)

Is the data complete and correct?


Is the result actionable?


Civil liberties / privacy concerns

Civil liberties scholars: – Have concerns over privacy and civil rights issues

– Question how the police can use technology and knowledge to better fight crime without eroding civil liberties

– Note that it must be constitutional

– Encourage involvement of community advocates and leaders fromthe beginning to help alleviate concerns of privacy rights violations

• History has shown that serious legal consequences follow when appropriate consideration is not given to privacy rights

• Transparency, auditing and due diligence are critical


Civil liberties / privacy concerns (cont’d)

• Supreme Court has ruled that standards for what constitutes reasonable suspicion are relaxed in high crime areas (i.e., “hot spots”)

– What constitutes a high crime area is a completely open question

• Issue minor in comparison to civil and privacy rights issues raised by profiling (i.e., “hot people”)

– What do we do with a prediction of re-offending that, while much better than chance (~80% accurate), is still far from definitive?

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Source: Rand Corporation, National Institute of Justice, and National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center, 2012

What practitioners say

Many crime analysts are already practicing predictive policing – Marginal improvements can be made and are areas of opportunity

– There is a demonstrated gap between crime analysts and management

– Often, analyst recommendations do not make it to the street-level cop

Departments need officers / staff that – Cares and places value on data and information

– Are trained (at their level) how to respond to the data/information

There is a need for better data sharing and interoperability

There is a need to incorporate nontraditional data, like demographics and building foreclosures for more sophisticated analysis

Crime Analyst potential is relatively untapped and undervalued


3. Extending community policing via mobile apps

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City of Boston mobile apps

Source: Public Technology Institute 25

Map / List / Add Photo / Track Detail Source: Public Technology Institute

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City of San Francisco Spot Crime AppTM


Miami-Dade County self-service apps



Chicago Clear Map


Other topics

• Fusion centers “A fusion center is an effective and efficient mechanism to exchange information and intelligence, maximize resources, streamline operations, and improve the ability to fight crime and terrorism by analyzing data from a variety of sources.”

• GIS integration “GIS in the mobile environment provides field personnel with the ability to capture new information, geocode it, and send it back so that incident command can visualize incident progress. As such, it is strategically important that GIS become an integral part of any common operating picture IT infrastructure.”

Sources: U.S. Department of Justice; ESRI 31

Week 5: Public safety

Education

national institute of

national law enforcement

justice information

corrections technology

justice outcomes

rand corporation

global justice xml data

crime police