In two Loop office buildings about eight blocks apart, a pair of University of Chicago research teams are analyzing big data to answer a thorny question that has become especially charged in recent months: Will a police officer have an adverse interaction with a citizen?
The team from the university’s Crime Lab is in the first stages of working with the Chicago Police Department to build a predictive data program to improve the department’s Early Intervention System, which is designed to determine if an officer is likely to engage in aggressive, improper conduct with a civilian.
The other team, part of U. of C.’s Center for Data Science & Public Policy, is expected to launch a data-driven pilot of an Early Intervention System with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department in North Carolina by the end of the summer. The center is working on similar efforts with the Los Angeles County sheriff’s office and the Nashville and Knoxville police departments in Tennessee. – READ MORE
