Cops turn to computers for help

Inquirer News Service

COMPUTERS chart when, where, and which crimes occur to make police deployment more effective, according to a senior police official.

Deputy Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said the police, in a few key cities, now use computers to create graphs of the crime situation.

"Through comstat (computer statistics), we found out that our [police] deployment was wrong. In many areas, we deployed more men during the day when there were more crimes committed at night," Razon said.

The official clarified that to deploy more men at night was "not the rule of thumb."

"It depends on the precinct commander, but now deployment is aided by comstat," he said. "A precinct commander must know when, where and which crimes occur [in his territory]."

There are about 115,000 uniformed and non-uniformed police personnel, a third of them on duty at any given time.

The Rizal Police had used a similar computer program to plot crime data on a chart. Senior Superintendent Leocadio Santiago, then provincial police chief, developed the program and offered it for free to other provincial police stations.

Razon said he got the idea of using computers from a book on the crime situation in New York City.

When the New York Police District started using computer models to plot crime rates and occurrence, the NYPD's deployment of cops became more effective; it helped bring down their crime rate, according to Razon