Wednesday, December 21, 2005

[USA] Cities think creatively to beat crime / San Bernardino County Sun, Dec 2005

http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3328245
"When police in Chicago experienced an upsurge in homicides and other violent crimes a few years ago, officials there started looking for long-term solutions. What they came up with was a layered approach that coupled old-fashioned street policing with new, high-tech tools. Veteran street cops continued to hit high-crime neighborhoods, contact gang members and drug dealers, and share intelligence with officers on other beats.
But they also tried tools such as a computerized crime-analysis system that defines high-crime areas as well as high-tech surveillance cameras, some of which can detect the sound of gunshots and automatically call 9-1-1. Costs are covered by asset-forfeiture funds generated from the sale of seized assets."