Report: CompStat does reduce crime

 

Connecting state and local government leaders

CompStat-style programs are responsible for a 5 to 15 percent decrease in crime in cities using the system, according to a recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice.

CompStat-style programs are responsible for a 5 to 15 percent decrease in crime in cities using the system, according to a recent study by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University’s School of Law, a nonpartisan law and policy institute.

CompStat is a data-driven police management technique, developed in New York to reduce and prevent crime. Initially done by hand and then computerized in 1994, CompStat’s management and accountability system helps police take up strategies based on accurate data collection.

The Brennan Center examined why crime rates have fallen over the past two and a half decades. Since 1991, violent crime has fallen by 51 percent and property crime by 43 percent. The Brennan Center’s analysis covered of 50 of the most populous cities. Of those, 39 had implemented CompStat.

“Specifically, a CompStat-style program is associated with a [national average of a] 13 percent decrease in violent crime, an 11 percent decrease in property crime and a 13 percent decrease in homicide,” said Inimai Chettiar, director of the Justice program at the Brennan Center, in the executive summary. In New York, CompStat was credited with reducing 63 percent of the crime in the city from 1994 to 2012.

In a separate study, the Police Executive  Research  Forum  (PERF)  found  that today 79  percent  of  medium to  large  police  departments use some form of CompStat. Most recently, the New York police department (NYPD) is devising a data tracking system similar to CompStat to spot trends in animal abuse, according to a NY Post article.

The database system is aimed at helping the NYPD look for animal cruelty hotspots (where crime is most likely to occur) and larger, citywide animal abuse patterns so authorities can concentrate their resources on those areas. The system should also help law enforcement spot trends between domestic violence and animal attacks, the NY Post reported.

Last September the Seattle Police department began analyzing crime data to quickly respond to hotspots and identify emerging trends. SeaStat, based on CompStat, is one of many data analysis programs used by municipalities nationwide to reduce crime. For example, in 2010, police in Memphis added IBM’s Blue CRUSH (Criminal Reduction Utilizing Statistical History) software to create predictive models by analyzing crime and arrest data, The Los Angeles Police Department is among several in the United States using PredPol cloud-based software that automatically generates maps for police of where and when crimes may occur.

And in 2013, Baltimore and Philadelphia added predictive analysis tools to predict which prison parolees are likely to commit murder and therefore should receive more stringent supervision. Richard Berk, creator of the algorithms behind the analytics, said the software draws on known predictors, such as a the age of the parolee when the crime was committed, the nature of the crime and the parolee’s address to create its predictive analysis.

The Brennan Center study analyzed a variety of reasons why crime has dropped. Its biggest finding: increased incarceration had a limited effect on declining crime rates. Since 2000, the effect on crime rates of increasing incarceration has been essentially zero. The United States has 25 percent of the world’s prisoners and has incarcerated a higher percentage of its people and for a longer period than any other democracy, the report noted.

In addition to CompStat, the report also found that an aging population, changes in income, and decreased alcohol consumption affected crime rates. Consumer confidence and inflation also seem to have contributed to crime reduction, according to reviews of other past research, according to the report.

X
This website uses cookies to enhance user experience and to analyze performance and traffic on our website. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners. Learn More / Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Accept Cookies
X
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Do Not Sell My Personal Information

When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.

Allow All Cookies

Manage Consent Preferences

Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies

Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link

If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.

Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.

Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.

If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.

Save Settings
Cookie Preferences Cookie List

Cookie List

A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:

Strictly Necessary Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Functional Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Performance Cookies

We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.

Sale of Personal Data

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Social Media Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.

Targeting Cookies

We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.