Data Modeling Helps Reduce Risk of Violent Crime in Atlantic City
High rates of violent crime dealt a blow to Atlantic City’s citizens and businesses in the late 2000s and early 2010s. Hamstrung by a reduced force, the Atlantic City Police Department turned to new solutions to optimize resources for predicting and preventing crime. This included risk terrain modeling (RTM), an analytical technique combining crime data and environmental risk factors to identify high-risk areas. This data informed new approaches to their patrolling, community engagement, and other activities, and police saw reductions in homicides and shooting injuries (26 percent) and robberies (37 percent) in the first year alone. Investments in RTM and similar data modeling techniques show how data, beyond simply painting a picture of past events, can inform solutions for the betterment of society.
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