Maps Pinpint Crime Trends
Camden, N.J., officials say new crime-mapping technology will help them systematically address crime trends across the city.
Police department commanders will be trained to use the new system to identify areas that show rising crime trends, based on statistical analysis of crime reports and service calls.
The target area will then be infiltrated with undercover and plainclothes police who will try to gather information, and then uniformed officers will saturate the area.
The department will be able to focus on one geographic area every 28 days, with the flexibility to remain targeted on an area if needed. “We must focus and pool our resources so that we can take each neighborhood back systematically,” says Police Chief Edwin Figueroa.
Other areas of the city will not suffer because of focus elsewhere because police resources will be used more effectively overall. The department plans to keep resource levels the same with the new technology, which is similar to one used in Baltimore and replaces an outdated system that only one person knew how to operate.
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from the Cherry Hill Courier-Post (NJ) (01/11/05) P. 3G; Nark, Jason .
