NCJ Number
199423
Journal
Crime & Justice International Volume: 19 Issue: 70 Dated: February 2003 Pages: 27-28
Date Published
February 2003
Length
2 pages
Annotation
The use of in-house computer programs, extensive databases, and the crime prediction model has made the computer an effective tool in the war against urban crime by the Waco Police Department (Texas).
Abstract
The Waco Police Department (WPD) has a computer-aided pawn ticket search program that matches the descriptions and serial numbers of stolen items listed in case files with pawned items reported to the police department by pawnshops. The WPD credits its ability and willingness to write a special section of code for each pawnshop in getting the shop owners' cooperation. This enables each pawnshop to input its records without having to make significant changes to its record system. One change that was requested of pawnshop owners was the inclusion of National Crime Information Center (NCIC) property descriptions that are required by the WPD search program. The WPD record system provides search capabilities by serial number, NCIC property descriptions, etc. In addition to the pawnshop program, crime analysts and police officers use other computer programs to assist in their efforts, including a crime prediction model that has proved to be quite accurate and knowledge databases that are accessible throughout the department. Using massive, historical databases from the police department; local, State, and Federal governmental agencies; and local and State businesses, experts identified the most reliable explanatory variables for forecasting crime. For Waco, these variables are indicators of time, location, season, and sale of alcohol. Currently, the model is used weekly to forecast the precincts where criminal activity is most likely to occur. A useful repository of information about criminal suspects is the crime intelligence database, which includes arrest records, communications/contacts with police department officials, MO's, associations with other known suspects, and/or membership in activist groups or gangs. 2 references