SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- International Predictive Policing Day of Action, with police in Kent, England, Los Angeles and Santa Cruz was held yesterday with police sharing locations with residents to try to increase their presence on the street and hopefully prevent crime.



“Our goal is not to arrest a lot of people, it’s to prevent the crime from happening,” said Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel. “I’m exceptionally proud that we were the first ones to do this.”

PredPol’s unique crime prediction methodology leverages existing crime data that every city already has, advanced mathematics developed over more than six years, computer learning, cloud computing, and the indispensable experience of veteran police. The crime data is analyzed through a sophisticated algorithm that applies proven criminal theories about crime. The results are more accurate and more actionable recommendations for when and where crime is most likely to occur, thus allowing police to show up before incidents happen.

PredPol is a secure, cloud-based software, PredPol’s tool was developed by a team of PhD mathematicians, criminologists, and social scientists in close collaboration with crime analysts and line level officers at the Los Angeles and Santa Cruz Police Departments in California. Just six months after launch in late 2011, those first two cities saw crime reductions of 12% to 25% in burglaries and auto thefts compared to the previous year. Since then, PredPol’s core prediction technology has grown from success with property crimes to include prediction of drug crime, gang crime, traffic incidents, and gun violence.