Furthermore, different objectives may also take precedence over the use of COMPSTAT systems such as political goals as well as the ability for policing organizations to provide the needed resources to take advantage of a COMPSTAT system.
The various COMPSTAT systems can take various inputs, such as historical data, weather, or political events, and process these inputs to generate various sets of "hotspots." These hotspots can be updated daily and reflect the most likely time and space estimates of where crime is more likely to occur given the various factors that are presented to the algorithm. The outputs may represent a location and a time in which police officers should patrol given the likelihood of a crime occurring at this output. The system then can keep updated as more feedback is entered into the system to generate a new range of crime hotspots.
SWOT
Strengths
The system can optimize the best use of resources in a police organization and improve the likelihood that they will patrol the correct locations at the correct times.
The system can identify potential opportunities to staff officers at different levels given the historical data and the algorithim calculations thus reducing waste.
Weaknesses
The system may not be a political priority for the policing organization nor may the organization have adequate resources to take full advantage of the system.
There may be cultural barriers to the implementation of such a system since many officers would...
(2011, August 15). Sending the Police Before There's a Crime. Retrieved from The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/16/us/16police.html?_r=1&
National Institute of Justice. (2009, December 18). Predictive Policing Symposium: The LAPD Experiment. Retrieved from Office of Justice Program: http://www.nij.gov/nij/topics/law-enforcement/strategies/predictive-policing/symposium/lapd.htm
Willis, J., Mastrofski, S., & Weisburd, D. (2004). COMPSTAT in Practice: An In-Depth Analysis of Three Cities. Retrieved from Police Foundation: http://www.policefoundation.org/content/compstat-practice-depth-analysis-three-cities
