NEWTON — A south-central Kansas police department is trying to utilize analytical software to help its officers patrol more effectively and lower the city’s high crime rate.
The Wichita Eagle reports that the predictive policing software calculates where crimes are likely to happen after being fed crime reports and other statistics.
But Newton Police Department Lt. Bryan Hall says it has been difficult for the department to use the fully potential of the technology because it is short-staffed, and most of the officers do not have time to do preventive police work.
Hall says only he has access to the program that runs predictions, but the department will likely give courses to its officers on how to use the software in January.
