(Editor's Note: A three-part interview with Gov. O'Malley can be seen in our video section)

When Rudy Giuliani became mayor of New York City in 1994, he looked to then-New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner Bill Bratton to help devise a cutting-edge tool to stamp out crime in all its forms. Bratton consulted Deputy Commissioner Jack Maple, who achieved significant success reducing crime by analyzing crime statistics during his tenure in the NYPD's transit division. To aid Giuliani in his anti-crime quest, Maple and Bratton developed CompStat - a performance management tool that also used GIS to map crime and predict where it would occur. CompStat helped Giuliani deliver on his anti-crime platform, and the CompStat model has since been adopted by police agencies around the world.

Moving to Baltimore

By 1999, New York City was hailed as the premier example of how to wipe out crime in a metropolis. About 200 miles southwest, however, Baltimore had earned the unwanted reputation as one of the nation's most crime-ridden cities. In addition, urban decay and a population exodus had transformed the once-vibrant city into a shell of its former self.

That same year, a Baltimore councilman named Martin O'Malley ran for mayor. He delivered an anti-crime message reminiscent of Giuliani's. O'Malley went further, pledging to not only cleanse the city of crime, but also to restore the city's health and environment. After a landslide victory, O'Malley worked quickly to adopt CompStat for Baltimore. This time, the performance management and mapping technology would not only deter crime, but would improve government service delivery in general.

Photo: Martin O'Malley, Governor, Maryland/Photo by GTtv

The program, known as CitiStat, was a sensation. Working under four simple tenets - accurate and timely intelligence shared by all; rapid deployment of resources; effective tactics and strategies; and relentless follow-up and assessment - CitiStat achieved startling results. From repairing potholes to eliminating blight, by 2003 the mayor's office reported CitiStat had saved the city $100 million, thanks to much improved and more intelligent service delivery. Meanwhile, crime was also declining, though it was still high by national standards.

Now serving as Maryland's governor, O'Malley has applied the CitiStat philosophy across the state, resulting in a new program called StateStat. O'Malley said his experience in Baltimore compelled him to try CitiStat on a statewide level. And none of it would have been possible, he said, without having been dealt a couple of Jacks.

Video: Gov. Martin O'Malley of Maryland discusses StateStat GIS for accountability and transparency.

"I've won a lot of hands in governance with two Jacks - [ESRI President] Jack Dangermond and Jack Maple," O'Malley said. "Jack Dangermond, who advanced, forwarded, fathered modern GIS; and Jack Maple, who [was] really a genius of a guy when it [came] to policing and implementing Commissioner Bratton's vision for CompStat in New York.

"Jack Maple was our first police consultant when I was elected mayor of Baltimore. In fact, it was a unique and unprecedented thing for us to