How Police uses Data to Predict Crime

Preamble

Los Angeles Police Department is one of dozens of cities across the country
that’s trying to predict where crime will happen—and who those future
criminals will be—based on past crime and arrest data. One effort, known as
Operation LASER, which began in 2011, crunches information about past
offenders over a two-year period, using technology developed by the
shadowy data analysis firm Palantir, and scores individuals based on their rap
sheets. If you’ve ever been in a gang, that’s five points. If you’re on parole or
probation? Another five. Every time you’re stopped by police, every time they
come knocking on your door, that could land you more points. The higher the
points, the more likely you are to end up on something called the Chronic
Offender Bulletin, a list of people the data says are most at risk of
reoffending and ought to be kept on close watch.
The city says this so-called “predictive policing” approach can help the
department efficiently target resources and help reduce crime. But civil
rights advocates worry that all this fancy technology is just a glossy veneer
on old-school racial profiling.

On the other hand, San Francisco City Council had develop an initiative
called DataSF with the mission to empower the use of data. DataSF seeks to
transform the way the San Francisco City works through the use of data.
They believe that use of data can improve the operations and the services of
San Francisco City Council. This ultimately leads to increased quality of life
and work for San Francisco residents, employers, employees and visitors.

The Challenge

The Police Department of San Francisco have been collecting incident

reports from 2018 to 2020. This dataset includes police incident reports filed
by officers and by individuals through self-service online reporting for non-
emergency cases. Reports included are those for incidents that occurred
starting January 1, 2018 onward and have been approved by a supervising
officer.

The fields included in the data set are described below.

Field Name Description Type

Incident Datetime The date and time Date & Time
when the incident
occurred
Incident Date The date the incident Date & Time
occurred
Incident Time The time the incident Plain Text
occurred
Incident Year The year the incident Plain Text
occurred, provided as a
convenience for
filtering
Incident Day of Week The day of week the Plain Text
incident occurred
Report Datetime Distinct from Incident Date & Time
Datetime, Report
Datetime is when the
report was filed.
Row ID A unique identifier for Plain Text
 filtering
Incident Day of Week The day of week the Plain Text
incident occurred
Report Datetime Distinct from Incident Date & Time
Datetime, Report
Datetime is when the
report was filed.
Row ID A unique identifier for Plain Text
each row of data in the
dataset
Incident ID This is the system Plain Text
generated identifier for
incident reports.
Incident IDs and
Incident Numbers both
uniquely identify
reports, but Incident
Numbers are used
when referencing cases
and report documents.
Incident Number The number issued on Plain Text
the report, sometimes
interchangeably
referred to as the Case
Number. This number is
used to reference
cases and report
documents.
CAD Number The Computer Aided Plain Text
Dispatch (CAD) is the
system used by the
Department of
Emergency
Management (DEM) to
dispatch officers and
other public safety
personnel. CAD
Numbers are assigned
by the DEM system and
linked to relevant
incident reports
(Incident Number). Not
all Incidents will have a
CAD Number. Those
filed online via Coplogic
(refer to “Filed Online”
 used to reference
cases and report
documents.
CAD Number The Computer Aided Plain Text
Dispatch (CAD) is the
system used by the
Department of
Emergency
Management (DEM) to
dispatch officers and
other public safety
personnel. CAD
Numbers are assigned
by the DEM system and
linked to relevant
incident reports
(Incident Number). Not
all Incidents will have a
CAD Number. Those
filed online via Coplogic
(refer to “Filed Online”
field) and others not
filed through the DEM
system will not have
CAD Numbers.
Report Type Code A system code for Plain Text
report types, these
have corresponding
descriptions within the
dataset.
Report Type The description of the Plain Text
Description report type, can be one
of: Initial; Initial
Supplement; Vehicle
Initial; Vehicle
Supplement; Coplogic
Initial; Coplogic
Supplement
Filed Online Non- emergency police Checkbox
reports can be filed
online by members of
the public using SFPD’s
self-service reporting
system called Coplogic
Values in this field will
be “TRUE” if Coplogic
 Supplement; Coplogic
Initial; Coplogic
Supplement
Filed Online Non- emergency police Checkbox
reports can be filed
online by members of
the public using SFPD’s
self-service reporting
system called Coplogic
Values in this field will
be “TRUE” if Coplogic
was used to file the
report. Please
reference the link below
for additional info:
(http://
sanfranciscopolice.org/
reports).
Incident Code Incident Codes are the Plain Text
system codes to
describe a type of
incident. A single
incident report can
have one or more
incident types
associated. In those
cases you will see
multiple rows
representing a unique
combination of the
Incident ID and Incident
Code.
Incident Category A category mapped on Plain Text
to the Incident Code
used in statistics and
reporting. Mappings
provided by the Crime
Analysis Unit of the
Police Department.
Incident Subcategory A subcategory mapped Plain Text
to the Incident Code
that is used for
statistics and reporting.
Mappings are provided
by the Crime Analysis
Unit of the Police
 provided by the Crime
Analysis Unit of the
Police Department.
Incident Subcategory A subcategory mapped Plain Text
to the Incident Code
that is used for
statistics and reporting.
Mappings are provided
by the Crime Analysis
Unit of the Police
Department.
Incident Description The description of the Plain Text
incident that
corresponds with the
Incident Code. These
are generally self-
explanatory.
Resolution The resolution of the Plain Text
incident at the time of
the report. Can be one
of: • Cite or Arrest
Adult • Cite or Arrest
Juvenile* • Exceptional
Adult • Exceptional
Juvenile* • Open or
Active • Unfounded
Note: once a report is
filed, the Resolution will
not change. Status
changes and/or
updates must be
provided using a
Supplemental Report
*Incidents identifying
juvenile information are
not included in this
dataset. Please see the
Juvenile Data section
for more information.
Intersection The 2 or more street Plain Text
names that intersect
closest to the original
incident separated by a
backward slash (\).
Note, the possible
intersections will only
 dataset. Please see the
Juvenile Data section
for more information.
Intersection The 2 or more street Plain Text
names that intersect
closest to the original
incident separated by a
backward slash (\).
Note, the possible
intersections will only
include those that
satisfy the privacy
controls.
CNN The unique identifier of Plain Text
the intersection for
reference back to other
related basemap
datasets. For more on
the Centerline Node
Network see https://
datasf.gitbook.io/draft-
publishing-standards/
standard-reference-
data/basemap/street-
centerlines-nodes
Police District The Police District Plain Text
where the incident
occurred. District
boundaries can be
reviewed in the link
below. Please note this
field is entered by
officers and not based
on the point. Reference
here: https://
data.sfgov.org/d/wkhw-
cjsf
Analysis Neighborhood This field is used to Plain Text
identify the
neighborhood where
each incident occurs.
Neighborhoods and
boundaries are defined
by the Department of
Public Health and the
Mayor's Office of
 here: https://
data.sfgov.org/d/wkhw-
cjsf
Analysis Neighborhood This field is used to Plain Text
identify the
neighborhood where
each incident occurs.
Neighborhoods and
boundaries are defined
by the Department of
Public Health and the
Mayor's Office of
Housing and
Community
Development. Please
reference the link below
for additional
info: https://
data.sfgov.org/d/
p5b7-5n3h Please note
this boundary is
assigned based on the
intersection, it may
differ from the
boundary the incident
actually occurred
within.
Supervisor District There are 11 members Plain Text
elected to the Board of
Supervisors in San
Francisco, each
representing a
geographic district. The
Board of Supervisors is
the legislative body for
San Francisco. The
districts are numbered
1 through 11. Please
reference the link below
for additional
info: https://
data.sfgov.org/d/8nkz-
x4ny Please note this
boundary is assigned
based on the
intersection, it may
differ from the
 boundary the incident
actually occurred
within.
Supervisor District There are 11 members Plain Text
elected to the Board of
Supervisors in San
Francisco, each
representing a
geographic district. The
Board of Supervisors is
the legislative body for
San Francisco. The
districts are numbered
1 through 11. Please
reference the link below
for additional
info: https://
data.sfgov.org/d/8nkz-
x4ny Please note this
boundary is assigned
based on the
intersection, it may
differ from the
boundary the incident
actually occurred
within.
Latitude The latitude coordinate Number
in WGS84, spatial
reference is EPSG:4326
Longitude The longitude Number
coordinate in WGS84,
spatial reference is
EPSG:4326
point The point geometry Location
used for mapping
features in the open
data portal platform.
Latitude and Longitude
are provided separately
as well as a
convenience.

The San Francisco City Council in conjunction with the Police Department
want to develop an interactive map where the citizens can detect risk areas
or obtain information about the crimes that occur so they can take
precautions. Additionally, they want citizens to help collect more information
about the crimes that are committed in order to alert the Police Department
and even as they do in Los Angeles to predict a crime.

You can download the date from the following link (click here)

Delivery method
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