HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — Data-driven policing isn't a new concept, according to director of the North Alabama Multi-Agency Crime Center Curt Worshek. "Data driven policing is not something new. It's something that's really matured, especially over the last two decades. It's really the use of crime and crime related data to inform decision making and that's both for the officers on the street and for the command staff. So very tactical decisions on the street and very strategic decisions at the department level."
Tuesday, residents got insight on how data is used in law enforcement to help solve and prevent crimes. Worshek explained, "The goal is to increase actionable criminal intelligence for all of our HPD personnel who are directly engaged in both deterring and reducing and, in many instances, I would say almost every instance related to what we do investigating crime and so it's also very reactive."
He also told residents how this data also helps officers to be placed where needed due to sometimes limited resources. "So, part of doing data driven policing is to create efficiencies, right? like not for our officers in areas where they're not needed and it's also effectively using the limited resources that we have. Some of those resources are technology. It's not just the officers, but the officer's ability to use different types of technology."
The data reporting also has a community aspect. He says, "The other piece of this is really community connectedness, because as we pull in data from citizens in certain areas of the community, they might not realize that, you know, this particular crime is a real issue in your area."
Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council Chairman Wiley Day Jr. shares how knowing this information helps the community. "I think it's very important for the community to be involved. I think that the community watch groups, I think that civil organizations that are part of the community know that information so that they know what to look out for," Day shares. "So, I think it's very important that a meeting like tonight has happened so that they know what to hear out in the community."
HPCAC hosts these meetings on a variety of topics to open up the dialogue between law enforcement and the community. "I think that with all that's been going on in the community, not just here, but just on a national scale," Day says. "I think that Huntsville has taken a really good look at how we interact with our community, and it makes it, I guess you can say, a safe and not so judgmental zone for people to come out and express their feelings, their thoughts, their interactions and things that they may have had with the city of Huntsville police department. "