PredPol uses data from your agency's RMS to pull current and historical crime data. We then feed this into our machine-learning algorithm to create our predictions. We work with you and your RMS vendor to make sure that the data we use is accurate and complete. 

Here are the 5 data points needed for each incident to generate our predictions:

1. Incident Identifier

For each crime, we need a unique identifier, such as docket number, incident ID or anything else used by the department to uniquely identify the crime.

2. Crime Type

The violation code and/or crime description assigned to a particular incident type as used in your RMS.

3. Location of Incident

For best accuracy, latitude and longitude are desired. Your latitude and longitude must use the WGS 84 coordinate system. If latitude and longitude are not available, then the complete address of the incident is required. A complete address is Street Number, Street Name, City, State/Region.

4. Timestamps with Start and End Date/Time for Incident (format:  yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss)

These are actually two fields: incident start date/time, and incident end date/time. We use these two fields because in some cases the exact date and time that the crime occurred is not known. For example, an auto theft may occur between midnight and 8 AM, or a burglary may occur over a weekend.

Predpol calculates the incident occurrence time by taking the midpoint between beginning date/time and ending date/time. Incidents with a span of more than 72 hours between the beginning and ending date/time are excluded because it reduces the accuracy of our predictions. Predpol prefers the date and time are together as a timestamp column.

5. Record Modified Date/Time for Incident (format:  yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss)

This is an options field, but if possible we also request that you include a “record modified” date/time field to allow us to catch RMS records that may have changed (i.e. crime code has been reclassified).

That's it! If you are a current client and would like to learn more about how we work with your RMS, please email us at info@predpol.com.

For more information on PredPol's solution...