Police Use ‘Minority Report’ Prediction Software

Two police forces in Britain are trialling new technology powered by IBM, which can reportedly help predict when and where crimes will be committed before they happen.

The program, known as CRUSH (Criminal Reduction Utilising Statistical History), analyses crime records, intelligence briefings, offender profiles and even weather reports, to identify potential crime hotspots. This allows police forces to assign resources and deploy personnel to those places where crimes are most likely to occur.

Many industry commentators are comparing the technology with Tom Cruise’s sci-fi film Minority Report, where psychics are used to stop criminals before they commit a crime.

Reducing crime

The CRUSH system, powered by IBM’s  “predictive analytics” software, is currently being tested in the UK, but the names of the two forces using the software have not been revealed.

The trials follow successful testing in the US by the Memphis Police Department (MPD) of its own system called “Blue CRUSH”, which reported a reduction in serious crime of more than 30 percent. This includes a 15 percent reduction in violent crimes since 2006.

“As crime becomes more sophisticated, law enforcement must become even smarter by adopting advanced crime prevention tactics,” said Colonel James Harvey, commander of Ridgeway Station at MPD. “Memphis Police Department now has the invaluable insight all of our staff can use – from the commanders to the patrolling officers – to specifically focus investigative and patrol resources with the goal of preventing crime and making our neighborhoods safer.”

IBM sees analytics as an area of potentially massive future growth, and the company has invested more than $11 billion (£7bn) in the field over the past four years. IBM is now working with more than 250,000 clients worldwide on predictive analytics, including commercial banks, telecommunications operators and retailers.

According to Anne Altman, general manager of IBM’s public sector department, the delivery of real-time information to the field has changed the face of law enforcement in Memphis. “In becoming smarter through its use predictive analytics, Memphis is now a safer community and better addresses the needs of its citizens,” she said.

Cyber-crime prevention

The news comes as national policing in the UK faces a major overhaul. Today it was announced that the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), once hailed as Britain’s answer to the FBI, will be scrapped in order to make way for a new national crime-fighting body. The National Crime Agency will take on the role of fighting organised crime, policing the UK’s borders and running national databases.

Earlier this year, the Home Office created a dedicated page on its Directgov site that allows citizens to report any illegal terrorist, violent extremist, or hate crime content they encounter whilst online. The webpage also advises people how to safeguard themselves from offensive material by using filter software or by reporting it to a website administrator.

However, in June it was reported that the cyber crime unit of the Metropolitan Police Service would not be getting an extra £1 million funding boost from the Home Office in 2011. The extra funding was axed as part of the coalition Government’s £6 billion deficit reduction plans.

“Without this additional funding the growth of our capability will be restricted,” said Met representtives at the time. “However, we remain committed to our existing work in this area at current funding levels.”