Predictive Policing: What Can We Learn from Wal-Mart and Amazon about Fighting Crime in a Recession?

In the current economic climate, police departments are being asked to do more with less. New tools designed to increase the effective use of police resources could make every agency more efficient, regardless of the availability of resources. Predictive policing allows command staff and police managers to leverage advanced analytics in support of meaningful, information-based tactics, strategy, and policy decisions in the applied public safety environment. As the law enforcement community increasingly is asked to do more with less, predictive policing represents an opportunity to prevent crime and respond more effectively, while optimizing increasingly scarce or limited resources, including personnel.