COMPUTER forecasts that predict where and when crimes will happen by analysing past patterns should help police channel resources where they are needed most. The technique, now under trial in the US, could be available for routine use within a year.
Police “crime maps” that identify areas prone to illegal activity are commonplace. But a more powerful tool for forecasting crime is emerging from a huge electronic database of 6 million crimes recorded over the past 10 years in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Rochester, New York.
A team from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh analysed the data in two ways. The…
