“It gives us some accurate statistics as to exactly where the crime is occurring, where the high-risk areas are,” said Chief John Cresie. “So, instead of waiting for crimes to occur and then try to investigate it, we can be proactive. We can actually increase patrols in those hot areas where the crime is occurring and deter it from happening.”
The police department has entered into an agreement with BAIR. In order for the township to start using the software, BAIR needs to be able to pull data from the department’s report management system, according to Cresie. After that, department members need trained.
“It’s a web-based solution, completely secure, that allows agencies to map and analyze their crime data, call-for-service data and various other police data,” said Joe Ryan, BAIR’s business development specialist. The service, known as ATACRAIDS Solution, is only for law enforcement agencies.
“As soon as they set up those tables where BAIR Analytics can pull the information off our servers, in a form that they can use to create those maps, then that’s how quick we will be up and running,” Cresie said.
Cresie said he hopes the department will begin using the software in May.
The software costs approximately $5,000, which Cresie said is being provided by an anonymous donor who wanted to help the police department. The department will have to pay a subscription fee of $100 a month for this service.
“We’ll be able to identify certain areas by crime. We’ll be able to run a report that says over the last 30 months, this is a pin map or heat map of where the thefts have occurred. We can start identifying where the crime is occurring, narrowing it down to the approximate times so we can focus our efforts with proactive policing, being in those areas to try and deter crime,” Cresie said.
Currently, six law enforcement agencies use the ATACRAIDS solution by BAIR Analytics in the Dayton metropolitan area, according to A.J. Guenther, a spokesman at the Virginia public relations firm hired by BAIR. The company declined to disclose the clients’ names.
“They also have a large presence around Columbus and Cincinnati,” Guenther said.
The township will provide data to BAIR’s RAIDSOnline, which allows the public to view crime data from various communities, according to Ryan. The site also allows visitors to sign up for crime alerts.
BAIR takes a subset of their law enforcement client’s general crime data to analyze, according to Ryan. This data does not include items such as the names of individuals or vehicle information.
More than 500 law enforcement agencies in Ohio use the free website, Ryan said.
“It’s a way for law enforcement agencies to share their crime data with the public so that citizens can stay abreast of different crime patterns, series and trends that are happening in the areas that they live, work or frequent,” Ryan said. “It’s a great tool to be used with neighborhood watch groups and other types of citizen meetings where the citizens can play a role in collaborating with law enforcement to help stop and prevent crime.”
For example, if residents know about a burglary complaint in their neighborhood, then they are more likely to call police when they see a suspicious vehicle.
RAIDSOnline also allows the public to know the places and times of crimes.
“So, you might take precautions to avoid being a victim. For example, if cars are being broken into in a particular neighborhood, then you might think twice about leaving your laptop in your backseat,” Ryan said.
BAIR Analytics was founded by Sean Bair, an Arizona crime analyst, in the 1990s. The company was acquired by LexisNexis on April 2, according to Tom Sizer, senior director of public safety market planning.
©2015 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC