Crimes drop 13 percent after Ogden implements data analysis system


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OGDEN — Police who have been using computers to fight crime in Ogden are already seeing a 13 percent reduction in crime.

They're employing a system similar to one in Memphis, Tenn., a city that has also experienced a drastic drop in crime rates. Other cities have used similar systems and seen comparable results.

For this program, cutting crime starts at the computer with crunching numbers. Officers hope the results they've seen are just the beginning. Ogden's Real-Time Crime Center has been in place for several years, but how they use it has changed to fit the changing field.

Yolie Garcia works in downtown Ogden at the Flower Patch. While it may seem relatively tranquil inside, sometimes it breaks into chaos.

"We had a couple out here who were fighting," Garcia said. "He threw a cake at her."

She said police have been quick to respond lately, and this was no exception.

"I wouldn't say it even took them 15 minutes to get here," Garcia said. "They were here fast."

That quick response rate is part of the principle at work in the Ogden Real-Time Crime Center. The system translates computer data, crunched-numbers and analysis to lower crime on the streets.


We try to figure out the right time, the right day and the right place to have officers in that area ... That analysis goes over to the commanders and to the other individual officers, or even other agencies.

–John Harvey, Deputy Director, Ogden Police Department


"We try to figure out the right time, the right day and the right place to have officers in that area," said John Harvey, Deputy Director, Ogden Police Department, adding that part of that analysis involves taking a close look at where and when crimes are happening.

"That analysis goes over to the commanders and to the other individual officers, or even other agencies," Harvey said.

The system had enormous success in Memphis, where crime dropped by 30 percent. Harvey hopes to bring similar results to Ogden and has already started to see some movement.

"Overall we're down 13 percent on the Part 1 crimes, which are the serious crimes — murder, rape, robbery, burglary, things like that," Harvey said."We think that's going continue to cause these numbers to fall."

For community members and business owners, like those at the Flower Patch, this is good news. Garcia said they seem to see officers out more and when they need them.

"That makes you feel a little bit better, that you're not just out there by yourself," Garcia said.

Police say the injunction against Ogden Trece gang members has helped, too. The next phase of the program will involve the public more. Within a few weeks, the Ogden Police Department will roll out a website that allows people to report crimes, tips or suspicious activity to them online, as it's happening.

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Mike Anderson

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