Santa Cruz Police Featured on Austrian TV News

The Santa Cruz Police Department continues to gain international acclaim for our innovative Predictive Policing program through PredPol. 

We were recently featured on Austrian Television Network ORF in two segments on their news shows.  

Break out your colloquial German and you can watch the two segments here: 
4-minute feature

http://tvthek.orf.at/programs/4660549-heute-konkret/episodes/6644909-heute-konkret/6644915-Predictive-Policing

News feature
http://tvthek.orf.at/programs/1225-ZIB-24/episodes/6648923-ZIB-24/6649187-Software-soll-Verbrechen-verhindern

Although I have no idea what they are saying, thanks to the miracle of Google Translator, I know they introduced the piece on their Website as this:

"Ein Programm, dass der Polizei Verbrechen voraussagt? Was klingt wie in einem Science Fiction Film, ist in den USA bereits Realität."

Translated:

"A program that predicts crimes to the police? What sounds like a science fiction movie, is already a reality in the United States."

As well as the U.S., our Predictive Policing program has now been featured on major news programs, magazines and radio in the U.K., Austria, Germany, France, Belgium, South Korea, Thailand, and Brazil.  We will be meeting with the Netherlands TV tomorrow.  

In addition to news exposure, we have consulted police officials from these and many more countries.  In fact, the Swedish police will be visiting later this month.   

We have to admit, it is pretty fun for Santa Cruz to have an opportunity to influence policing around the globe.  

 

Predictive Policing International Day of Action

Announcing International Predictive Policing 

Day of Action

A Chance for the Community to Get Involved

The Santa Cruz Police Department was the first in the world to implement Predictive Policing technology.  Our efforts led to PredPol, a tool now widely used throughout the United States and also in the United Kingdom.

On Wednesday August 14^th, we are teaming with all of the other agencies using PredPol, for our first International PredPol Day of Action or “All Out PredPol”.

The plan is to get as much positive and healthy activity and presence in each of the PredPol zones.  To accomplish this, we are teaming with our public safety partners and community groups to activate these areas.

On Wednesday morning, we will run the PredPol maps for the day in each of the targeted crime categories.  Those maps will be distributed to our public safety partners and neighborhood groups through Santa Cruz Neighbors and Take Back Santa Cruz.  Our goal is to maximize presence in and around these areas and have a positive impact on crime and the overall quality of life.  We won’t know the locations until that morning when PredPol runs the reports for that day. 

Above is an example of a PredPol Map 

We’re asking our neighborhood groups to join with us and be the eyes and ears in these areas.  We’ll ask you to report any anecdotes and observations to my email: sclark@cityofsantacruz.com

We will post the information on our Facebook and blog. 

We are looking forward to joining all the other cities across the U.S. and U.K. using this tool and working together to make a difference in Santa Cruz.

 

Santa Cruz Police Use of PredPol Featured on German Television News Show

The Santa Cruz Police Department was featured on German Television’s ARD Network on their morning news program.  Think of it as the German equivalent to “Good Morning America” with a more serious news focus.  

 Deputy Chief Steve Clark with ARD crew Felix Klopp, Karin Dohr, Oliver Richardt, and Robin Neumann

Reporter Karin Dohr and her crew spent some time with Deputy Chief Steve Clark learning about the Predictive Policing (PredPol) program, and then seeing it in action firsthand.  During the filming, Steve made contact with a group in front of McDonald's on Ocean St, right in the middle of a PredPol zone.  The contact paid off, as everyone was on probation and one suspect was taken into custody for possession of a stolen bicycle that was taken in a burglary of a locked shed at a residence.

You will have to brush up on your colloquial German, but here are a couple of links to the story:

http://www.ardmediathek.de/das-erste/morgenmagazin/moma-reporter-big-data-bei-der-polizei-in-santa-cruz?documentId=15705696

http://m.ardmediathek.de/moma-Reporter-Big-Data-bei-der-Polizei-in-Santa-Cruz?docId=15705696&pageId=13932928

Our use of the PredPol program has been featured in international news stories from Argentina, Korea, Germany, United Kingdom, and France.  Austrian TV and the Aljazeera network have submitted requests to do news stories as well. 

SCPD's Predictive Policing Program Now Being Used in Europe

SCPD's predictive policing program is now being used in the United Kingdom. The Kent Police Department reached out to SCPD for help in implementing the program. From an article just published in Police Oracle, the UK's largest provider of police news and information:

"Kent Police has begun a trial of a predictive policing model from the USA that assesses several years’ worth of crime data and human behavior to predict the areas in which offenses are likely to take place.
Det Ch Supt Jon Sutton, who has led on the implementation of [predictive policing] in the North Kent Division, told PoliceOracle.com that Chief Constable Ian Learmonth had heard about of the system, devised by academics and tested by police forces in California, and had expressed an interest in adopting it.

The trial has seen the force feed five years’ worth of crime data into the system, which uses an algorithm to predict where offences will take place. The system splits the North Kent division into 500-square feet zones and lists them in priority order as to where crime is most likely to occur.

Officers receive updates from the system twice a day and then make a decision as to where to deploy, Det Ch Supt Sutton said.He asserted that the system was among the most advanced predictive policing models being used in the country. The force is ultimately anticipating rolling out the initiative to the rest of the force for a year. Det Ch Supt Sutton said the method had been found in other tests to be twice as effective as “hotspotting” in which officers identify high-crime areas."

Santa Cruz Police's Predictive Policing Program Featured in GovTech Magazine

The Santa Cruz Police Department's predictive policing program was featured this week in Government Technology Magazine. The article gives an overview of the department's expansion of the program in July of this year and some of the lessons learned during implementation of the program. Click here to read it!

Russian TV Visits SCPD to Cover Predictive Policing

Channel One Russia, the highest-rated news television station in Russia, visited Santa Cruz Police yesterday to learn more about predictive policing. The station sent a crew to learn more about the program and share the information in a feature story in Russia in a few weeks. Channel 1 met with Dr. George Mohler of Santa Clara University, the developer of the predictive policing algorithm, as well as SCPD officers and staff to discuss how it works. A link to the broadcast will be provided when it airs. 

SCPD Presents on Predictive Policing to Local Organizations

This week the Santa Cruz Police Department is leading two presentations on predictive policing, both to local rotary organizations. The presentations, to the Freedom and Santa Cruz Rotary organizations, come a little over a year after the department implemented the program. Other cities have in the Bay Area have implemented the program and police departments throughout the country have reached out to SCPD about using the program in their areas.

The software program, which uses a complex mathematical algorithm to predict hot spot locations, is used every day by the department to help deploy resources.

SCPD Featured on CNN

The Santa Cruz Police Department's usage of technology, including the predictive policing program, was featured on CNN's Technology page. Click here for the link. This is the second time CNN has featured the department. Earlier this year they broadcast a story about the predictive policing program. 

Czech TV Visits Santa Cruz Police

A crew from Czech Television (or Ceska Televize) visited the Santa Cruz Police Department yesterday to do a story on predictive policing. The crew is from Prague but working on assignment in Washington DC and flew out for the day to cover the program. The program will run on the largest station in the Czech Republic with a news viewership of approximately 3 million people. Czech TV met with officers to learn about the program including Officer Armando Agular, Dr. George Mohler of Santa Clara and Crime Analyst Zach Friend. They learned about the program from other media coverage.

German TV Program Planetopia to Feature SCPD

The German TV program Planetopia, a science-based news magazine program, will air a feature on the department's predictive policing program on June 18th. The crew visited about two months ago for the filming and interviewed a number of officers about the program. If you happen to speak German you can watch the program on their website by clicking here.

German TV News Visits SCPD

A German TV news program is spending the day today with Santa Cruz Police to cover the predictive policing program.  They learned about the program through US coverage that was rebroadcast in Germany. In addition to meeting with SCPD officers and officials, they are traveling to Los Angeles to meet with one of the professors that developed the algorithm. There has been significant international interest in implementing the model - as countries like Germany have faced cuts to programs and public safety similar to what we've seen here in California. When it is set for broadcast we will provide the link!

French Science Magazine to Highlight SCPD

The French Science Magazine "Sciences et Avenir" will be in Santa Cruz today and tomorrow to meet with the Santa Cruz Police Department and Dr. George Mohler regarding the predictive policing program. The magazine will meet Crime Analyst Zach Friend, Lt. Bernie Escalante and Deputy Chief Steve Clark to view the program. There has been interest from law enforcement agencies in France to implement predictive policing. The magazine will also be reaching out to LAPD regarding their current test of the program. The magazine will be highlighting the department and program in a few months.

SCPD's Predictive Policing Featured on KQED

KQED did a feature story on the department's predictive policing program. You can click here to listen to here. Their write up about the program is below:

The city of Santa Cruz has pioneered an innovative policing tool. Predictive policing uses a sophisticated computer model to analyze crimes and anticipate where they may happen next. We talk to two of the developers of the tool and to a crime analyst with the Santa Cruz Police Department about the promise of predictive policing, and other mathematical approaches to identifying crime hot spots.
Host: Michael Krasny

Guests:

• George Tita, associate professor of criminology, law and society at UC Irvine, director of the Masters in Public Policy Program, and member of the Mathematical Simulation Modeling of Crime Project
• Jeff Brantingham, professor of anthropology at UCLA and member of the Mathematical and Simulation Modeling of Crime Project
• Zach Friend, crime analyst for the Santa Cruz Police Department

Predictive Policing 5 Month Overview

The Santa Cruz Police Department is five months into the groundbreaking predictive policing study. We plan a full evaluation, with professors at Santa Clara University and UCLA, in January. But we've done a preliminary look at the first five months of data.  

The program predicts hot spot locations based on seven years-worth of historical data. It is updated daily and suggests patrol deployment based on a combination of historic and current data.

So, is it working?

In the first six months of 2011 before we started the project we were on pace to set a record for the number of burglaries in our city. Since we have implemented the program we are now averaging 20% fewer burglaries than in the first six months. 

How does this compare to 2010?

Compared with the same 5 months in 2010 we've seen a 11% decline in the number of burglaries. December (the six month of the study) has historically been problematic for burglaries. Vehicle burglaries tend to rise near the holidays (meaning the holidays have a higher than average monthly burglary rate). This was not the case last year but has been the case in 6 of the last 10 years. 

We are interested to see if the program can continue to reduce the overall number of burglaries in our city and we will provide the full analysis compiled by the professors (which will hopefully be completed at some point in late January). Chief Kevin Vogel, Deputy Chiefs Rick Martinez and Steve Clark and Crime Analyst Zach Friend will work with Professor George Mohler and Professor Jeff Brantingham on the final analysis.